tihvavy  of  trhe  CKeolo^ical  ^eminarjo 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 

the  author 


BV  4501  .B87  1906  c.l 
Burrell,  David  James,  1844-,, 
1926.  ^^ 

The  evolution  of  a  Christia.  . 


The  Evolution 
of  a   Christian 


David  James  Burrell,  d.  d.,  ll.d. 

Minister  of  Marble  Collegiate  Church,  New  York; 

Author  of  "The  Verilies  of  Jesus."   "The  Teaching  of    Jesus 

Concerning  the  Scriptures,"  Etc. 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 

150     Nassau     Street 
BOSTON  NEW   YORK  CHICAGO 


Cofyrieht,   190b.    bv 
Anurican    Tract   Society 


THE  MARBLE  COLLEGIATE  CHURCH 
5th  Avenue  and  29th  Street. 


New  York,  Sept.  15th,  1906. 

Dr.  Louis  Klopsch, 

Editor  of  the  Christian  Herald. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  wonder  if  it  has  escaped  your 
mind  that,  two  winters  ago,  you  asked  me  to  prepare  foi 
pubhcation  **A  Plain  Statement  of  the  Steps  to  the  Christian 
Life?" 

In  answer  to  that  request  a  sermon  was  preached 
which  you  may  recognize  in  the  first  of  these  chapters ;  and 
that  was  followed  by  others  intended  to  show  Young 
Christians  how  to  keep  on  in  the  Good  Way. 

Thus  you  are,  so  to  speak,  the  god -father  of  this  little 
book.  Wherefore  I  ask  you  to  join  me  in  the  hope  and 
prayer  that  it  may  serve  its  purpose  in  saying  to  many, 
"Behold  the  Lamb  of  God." 

With  sincere  regard 

I  am  yours, 

David  Jas.  Burrell. 


CONTENTS. 

1.  How  TO  Begin.— *'The  Way" 1 

2.  How  TO  Hear. — Wireless  Messages 14 

3.  How  TO  See. — God's  Horses  and  Chariots 24 

4.  How  TO  Grow. — Putting  Off  and  On 35 

5.  The  Test  of  Profession. — Oil  in  the  Vessel .  48 

6.  The  Test  of  Faith.— The  Field  of  Anathoth  60 

7.  The  Test  of  Practice. — Stacte,  Onyche  and 

Galbanum 72 

8.  Sonship.— Pride  of  Birth 84 

9.  Character. — Four  Things  Needful 97 

10.  Renunciation. — "The  Graves  of  Lust.". . .  .  107 

11.  Non-Conformity. — The  Transfigured  Life.  .  118 

12.  Imitatio  Christi. — The  Stature  of  a  Man . .  .  126 

13.  From  Glory  to  Glory. — The  Shining  Face. .  139 

14.  The  Law  OF  Capital.-A  Profitable  Investment  150 

15.  The  Law  of  Honesty. — The  Eighth    Com- 

mandment      160 

16.  The  Law  of  Justice.— "The  Square  Deal". .   170 

17.  The  Law  OF  Kindness.-"  Sweet  Saint  Charity"  180 

18.  The  Duty  OF  Fault-finding. — "The  Wounds 

of  a  Friend" 191 

19.  The  Grace  of  Forgiveness.-"  Seventy  Times 

Seven" 201 

20.  The  Secret  of  Power. — The  Indwelling  of 

the  Spirit 211 

21.  Unrealized  Ideals. — ^Dream  On! 222 

22.  Failure. — Driven  Back  from  the  Border 233 

23.  Steadfastness. — The  Fixed  Heart 244 

24.  HosANNA ! — Saints  Triumphant 256 


HOW  TO  BEGIN. 

"the  way." 

"And  there  arose  no  small  stir  about  the  Way."     Acts  19:  23. 

The  name  by  which  the  early  Christians  were  famil- 
iarly known  was  "  the  People  of  the  Way."  In  the  year 
36  the  Sanhedrin  issued  a  commission  to  Saul  of  Tarsus 
authorizing  him  to  arrest  any  whom  he  might  find  "  of 
the  Way,"  whether  they  were  men  or  women,  and  to 
bring  them  bound  unto  Jerusalem  (Acts  9:2).  In  the 
year  58,  twenty -two  years  later,  the  same  Saul,  now  an 
apostle  of  Christ,  made  a  defence  from  the  steps  of  the 
Castle  of  Antonia,  in  which  he  said,  "  I  persecuted  this 
Way  unto  the  death,  binding  and  delivering  into  prison 
both  men  and  women"  (Acts  22:4). 

The  name  thus  given  to  the  followers  of  Christ  is 
significant  for  many  reasons.  The  question  has  been 
raised  in  some  quarters  as  to  whether  religion  is  dogma 
or  life.  In  fact,  our  religion  in  the  last  reduction  is 
neither  dogma  nor  life;  it  is  a  Way  from  sin  into  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  Its  bed-rock  is  truth,  its  pavement 
is  character,  its  destination  is  eternal  life. 

It  is  a  plain  Way;  as  indicated  in  the  prophecy,  "A 
highway  shall  be  there  and  a  way,  and  it  shall  be  called 
the  Way  of  Holiness ;  the  wayfaring  man,  though  a  fool, 
shall  not  err  therein."     Nevertheless,  to  the  unsaved 

(1) 


2  THE    EVOLUTION    OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

no  question  is  more  bewildering  than  this:  "What 
shall  I  do  that  I  may  inherit  eternal  Hfe?"  In  the 
Pocono  mountains  I  found  it  very  difficult  to  keep  in 
the  old  Indian  trail;  though  it  was  easy  enough  for 
my  comrade,  who  had  been  born  and  bred  in  that 
vicinity.  A  letter  lies  before  me,  written  by  a  man  of 
affairs,  in  which  he  says,  "All  my  Hfe  I  have  been  an 
attendant  at  church;  I  would  like  to  be  a  Christian, 
but  I  confess  that  I  have  never  yet  learned  how  to  set 
about  it." 

It  is  my  present  purpose  to  make  this  matter  as  clear 
as  I  can.  Let  it  be  said  at  the  outset  that  one  thing 
only  is  needful  in  order  to  become  a  follower  of  Christ; 
to  wit,  that  one  shall  believe  in  Him;  but,  before  we 
come  to  that,  we  must  touch  upon  a  matter  of  prelimi- 
nary importance. 

I.     A  man  must  begin  with  Repentance  (Mark  1 :15). 

Now  repentance  is  not  a  saving  grace;  it  has  value 
only  as  it  leads  to  something  further  on.  The  pain  of 
a  physical  malady  has  no  curative  virtue;  but  it  is  this 
pain  that  incHnes  the  patient  to  ring  the  doctor's  bell. 
So  John  the  Baptist  goes  before  Christ  with  his  cry, 
"Repent  ye!"  since  without  repentance  there  is  no 
adequate  sense  of  need,  nor  disposition  to  accept  Christ. 

Let  us  get  a  clear  understanding  of  repentance.  It 
suggests  first,  an  apprehension  of  sin  as  a  fact;  not  a 
figment  of  the  imagination,  not  "a  belief  of  mortal 
mind";  not  an  infection  due  to  environment,  and 
therefore  involving  no  personal  accountabiUty ;    but  a 


HOW  TO  BEGIN.  3 

distinct,  flagrant  violation  of  holy  law,  by  which  the 
sinner  is  brought  into  open  rebellion  against  God. 

And  sin  must  be  apprehended,  furthermore,  as  a 
calamitous  fact,  that  is,  involving  an  adequate  penalty: 
"The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die."  A  true  penitent 
recognizes  the  justice  of  the  punishment  which  is  im- 
posed upon  him;  as  did  the  crucified  thief,  when  he 
said  to  his  comrade,  "We  indeed  are  condemned 
justly."  One  who  spends  his  time  in  trying  to  explain 
away  hell  and  "  the  unquenchable  fire  "  and  "  the  worm 
that  dieth  not,"  is  not  a  penitent  man. 

And  sin  must  be  recognized,  also,  as  a  concrete  or 
personal  fact.  It  is  not  enough  to  acknowledge  the 
incontrovertible  presence  of  sin  in  the  world  around  us. 
The  important  thing  is,  that  this  sin  inheres  in  me.  So 
David  prayed,  "  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  accord- 
ing unto  thy  lovingkindness ;  for  I  have  sinned  and 
done  this  evil  in  thy  sight."  He  had  always  known,  in 
general  terms,  that  adultery  was  a  fearful  thing;  but 
when  it  pointed  its  gaunt  finger  at  him  in  the  watches 
of  the  night  and  hissed  "Bathsheba!"  it  brought  him 
to  his  knees. 

And  this  conviction  of  sin  must  be  followed  by  a 
resolution  to  forsake  it.  The  true  penitent  fears  his  sin, 
hates  it,  loathes  it,  abhors  it,  and  determines  to  quit  it. 

But  observe,  all  this  is  merely  preliminary  to  the  one 
thing  needful.  There  is  no  virtue  in  repentance  per  se. 
The  penitent  is  not  saved;  he  has  only  discovered  his 
need  of  salvation.     He  knows  his  malady;   now  how 


4  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

shall  he  be  cured  of  it  ?  To  pause  here  is  death.  One 
in  a  sinking  boat  must  not  be  satisfied  with  stopping 
the  leak;  the  boat  must  be  bailed  out.  A  man  head- 
over-ears  in  debt  cannot  recover  his  credit  by  resolving 
to  pay  cash  in  the  future;  he  must  somehow  cancel  his 
past  obhgations.  If  a  penitent  were  never  to  commit 
another  sin,  the  "handwriting  of  ordinances"  would 
still  be  against  him.  The  record  of  the  past  remains; 
and  it  will  confront  him  in  the  Judgment  unless  it 
be  disposed  of.  The  past!  The  mislived  past!  What 
shall  be  done  about  it? 

This  brings  us  to  the  matter  in  hand:  What  shall  I 
do  to  be  saved?  or  How  shall  I  become  a  Christian? 

II.     The  one  thing  needful  is  to  Believe  in  Christ. 

Our  Lord  at  the  beginning  of  His  ministry  said  to 
Nicodemus<  "  God  so  loved  the  worid  that  He  gave  His 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  helieveth  in  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everiasting  life."  And  to 
make  the  matter  perfectly  clear  to  this  learned  rabbi. 
He  resorted  to  the  kindergarten  method,  using  an 
object  lesson:  "As  Moses  Hfted  up  the  serpent  in  the 
wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up 
(that  is,  crucified),  that  whosoever  helieveth  in  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  fife."  So  the  one 
thing  needful  is  to  believe  in  Christ. 

The  same  truth  was  repeated  over  and  over  in  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  and  of  His  disciples  as  well.  To 
the  jailor  of  Philippi  who,  in  sudden  conviction,  was 
moved  to  cry,  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  the 


HOW   TO   BEGIN.  5 

answer  of  Paul  was,  "  BeKeve  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 

But  what  is  it  to  "  BeUeve  in  Christ  ?  "  It  is  easy  to 
say,  "Come  to  Christ"  and  "Accept  Christ"  and 
"Believe  in  Him";  but  just  here  occurs  the  bewilder- 
ment. These  are  oftentimes  mere  shop-worn  phrases 
to  the  unsaved,  however  simple  they  may  appear  to 
those  who  have  entered  on  the  Christian  Hfe. 

To  believe  in  Christ  is,  jirsU  to  credit  the  historic 
record  of  His  hfe.  Once  on  a  time  He  lived  among 
men,  preached,  wrought  miracles,  suffered  and  died  on 
the  accursed  tree.  So  far  all  will  agree;  but  there  is 
cleariy  no  saving  virtue  in  an  intellectual  acceptance  of 
an  undisputed  fact. 

It  means,  second,  to  beHeve  that  Jesus  was  what  He 
claimed  to  be.  And  His  claim  is  perfectly  clear.  To 
the  woman  of  Samaria  who  spoke  of  the  coming  of 
Messiah  He  said,  "I  that  speak  unto  thee  am  he." 
No  reader  of  the  Scripture  could  misunderstand  His 
meaning,  since  the  prophecy  of  the  Messiah  runs  like 
a  golden  thread  through  all  its  pages  from  the  pro- 
tevangel,  "  The  seed  of  woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent's 
head,"  to  the  prediction  of  Malachi,  "The  Sun  of 
Righteousness  shall  arise  with  healing  in  His  beams." 

But,  more  than  this,  Jesus  claimed  that  as  Messiah 
He  was  the  only-begotten  and  co-equal  Son  of  God. 
He  came  forth  from  God  and,  after  finishing  His  work, 
was  to  return  to  God  and  reassume  "the  glory  which 
He  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was."    It  was 


6  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

this  oft-repeated  assertion  which  so  mortally  offended 
the  Jews  as  to  occasion  His  arrest  on  the  charge  of 
blasphemy.  He  persisted  in  His  claim,  and  was  put 
to  death  for  "making  Himself  equal  with  God."  It 
must  be  seen,  therefore,  that  no  man  can  be  said  to 
beheve  in  Christ  who  is  not  prepared  to  affirm,  without 
demur  or  qualification,  that  He  was  what  He  claimed 
to  be. 

It  means,  third,  to  believe  that  Jesus  did  what  He 
said  He  came  into  the  world  to  do.  And  here  again 
there  can  be  no  doubt  or  peradventure.  He  said: 
"The  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but 
to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many. " 
His  death  was  to  be  the  purchase  price  of  redemption. 
In  the  wilderness  He  was  tempted  to  turn  aside  from 
His  great  purpose.  The  adversary  led  Him  to  a  high 
place,  and  with  a  wave  of  his  hand,  directed  His  thought 
to  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  saying:  "All  these  are 
mine.  I  know  thy  purpose:  thou  art  come  to  win 
this  world  by  dying  for  it.  Why  pay  so  great  a  price  ? 
I  know  thy  fear  and  trembUng — for  thou  art  flesh — in 
view  of  the  nails,  the  fever,  the  dreadful  exposure,  the 
long  agony.  Why  pay  so  great  a  price  .^  I  am  the 
prince  of  this  world.  One  act  of  homage,  and  I  will 
abdicate.  Fall  down  and  worship  me!"  Never  before 
or  since  has  there  been  such  a  temptation,  so  specious, 
so  alluring.  But  Jesus  had  covenanted  to  die  for 
sinners.  He  knew  there  was  no  other  way  of  accom- 
pUshing  salvation  for  them.     He  could  not  be  turned 


HOW   TO    BEGIN.  7 

aside  from  the  work  which  He  had  volunteered  to  do. 
Therefore  He  put  away  the  suggestion  with  the  word, 
"Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan!  I  cannot  be  moved! 
I  know  the  necessity  that  is  laid  upon  me.  I  know 
that  my  way  to  the  kingdom  is  only  by  the  cross.  I 
am  therefore  resolved  to  suffer  and  die  for  the  deliver- 
ance of  men." 

On  a  later  occasion,  on  His  way  to  Jerusalem — that 
memorable  journey  of  which  it  is  written,  "  He  set  His 
face  steadfastly"  to  go  toward  the  cross — He  spoke  to 
His  disciples  of  His  death.  He  had  been  with  them 
now  three  years,  but  had  not  been  able  fully  to  reveal 
His  mission,  because  they  were  not  able  to  bear  it. 
A  man  with  friends,  yet  friendless,  lonely  in  the  pos- 
session of  His  great  secret.  He  had  longed  to  give  them 
His  full  confidence,  but  dared  not.  Now,  as  they 
journeyed  southward  through  Csesarea  Philippi,  He 
asked  them,  "  Who  do  men  say  that  I  am  .^ "  And  they 
answered,  "Some  say,  John  the  Baptist;  others,  Elias; 
others,  Jeremias,  or  one  of  the  Prophets."  And  He 
saith,  "But  who  say  ye  that  I  am.?"  Then  Peter- 
brave,  impulsive,  glorious  Peter — witnessed  his  good 
confession:  "Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
Hving  God!"  The  hour  had  come.  His  disciples  were 
beginning  to  know  Him.  He  would  give  them  His  full 
confidence.  So  as  they  journeyed  on  toward  Jerusalem 
He  told  them  all  how  He  had  come  to  redeem  the  world 
by  bearing  its  penalty  of  death;  "He  began  to  show 
them  how  He  must  suffer  many  things  of  the  elders 


8  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

and  chief  priests  and  scribes,  and  be  killed."  At  that 
point  Peter  could  hold  his  peace  no  longer,  but  began  to 
rebuke  Him,  saying,  "Be  it  far  from  Thee,  Lord!  To 
suffer  ?  To  die  ?  Nay,  to  reign  in  Messianic  splendor ! " 
And  Jesus  turning,  said  unto  him,  "Get  thee  behind 
me,  Satan!" — the  very  words  with  which  He  had 
repelled  the  same  suggestion  in  the  wilderness.  As 
He  looked  on  His  disciple.  He  saw  not  Peter,  but  Satan 
— perceived  how  the  adversary  had  for  the  moment 
taken  possession,  as  it  were,  of  this  man's  brain  and 
conscience  and  lips.  "Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan! 
I  know  thee!  I  recognize  thy  crafty  suggestion;  but 
I  am  not  to  be  turned  aside  from  my  purpose.  Get  thee 
behind  me !  Thou  art  an  offence  unto  me.  Thy  words 
are  not  of  divine  wisdom,  but  of  human  policy.  Thou 
savorest  not  the  things  that  be  of  God,  but  those  that  be 
of  men!" 

From  this  we  conclude  that  the  vicarious  death  of 
Jesus  is  the  vital  center  of  His  Gospel,  and  that  any 
word  which  contravenes  it  is  in  the  nature  of  a  satanic 
suggestion.  It  follows  that  no  man  can  truly  beheve 
in  Christ  without  assenting  to  the  fact  that  the  saving 
power  is  in  His  death ;  as  it  is  written :  "  The  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin,"  and,  "Without 
shedding  of  blood  is  no  remission."  He  came  into  the 
worid  to  die  for  sinners,  that  they  by  His  death  might 
enter  into  life;  He  came  to  take  our  place  before  the 
bar  of  the  offended  Law,  to  be  "wounded  for  our 
transgressions  and  bruised  for  our  iniquities,  that  by 


HOW   TO   BEGIN.  9 

His  stripes  we  might  be  healed";  He  came  to  "bear 
our  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  tree";  and  to  believe 
in  Christ  is  to  believe  that  He  did  what  He  came  to  do. 

It  means,  fourth — and  now  we  come  to  the  very 
heart  of  the  matter — to  believe  that  Christ  means 
precisely  what  He  says.  He  says  to  the  sinner,  "The 
Son  of  man  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins."  He 
says,  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
out."  He  says,  "He  that  believeth  in  me  hath  ever- 
lasting life."  At  this  point  belief  means  personal 
appropriation;  acceptance,  immediate,  here,  now.  It 
is  to  make  an  end  of  doubt  and  perplexity  and  all 
questioning,  by  closing  in  with  the  overtures  of  divine 
mercy.  It  is  to  lay  down  one's  arms  and  make  an  un- 
conditional surrender.  It  is  to  take  the  proffered  hand 
of  the  Saviour  in  an  everlasting  covenant  of  peace.  It 
is  to  say,  "  My  Lord,  my  Life,  my  Sacrifice,  my  Saviour 
and  my  All ! " 

But  just  here  is  where  many  hesitate  and  fail.  They 
do  not  "screw  their  courage  to  the  sticking  point." 
They  come  up  to  the  line,  but  do  not  take  the  step  that 
crosses  it.  They  do  not  summon  resolution  to  say,  "I 
will!"  They  put  away  the  outstretched  hand,  and  so 
fall  short  of  salvation. 

The  will  must  act.  The  prodigal  in  the  far  country 
will  stay  there  forever  unless  his  resolution  cries,  "I 
will  arise  and  go ! "  This  resolution  is  an  appropriating 
act.  It  makes  Christ  mine;  it  links  my  soul  with  His, 
as  the  coupler  binds  the  loaded  train  to  the  locomotive. 


10  THE   EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

It  grasps  His  outstretched  hand;   it  seals  the  compact 
and  inspires  the  song: 

"  'Tis  done,  the  great  transaction's  done, 
I  am  my  Lord's  and  He  is  mine! 
He  drew  me,  and  I  followed  on, 

Charmed  to  confess  the  voice  divine. 

"High  heaven  that  hears  the  solemn  vow. 
That  vow  renewed  shall  daily  hear; 
Till  in  hfe's  latest  hour  I  bow 

And  bless  in  death  a  bond  so  dear!" 

Now  this  is  all.  The  man  who  really  believes  on 
Christ  is  saved  by  that  alone.  He  can  never  be  lost. 
As  Rowland  Hill  used  to  say,  "We  two  are  so  joined, 
He  can't  be  in  glory  and  leave  me  behind."  But  salva- 
tion from  the  penalty  of  sin  is  not  the  whole  of  salvation ; 
only  the  beginning  of  it. 

in.  There  is  an  inevitable  sequel.  The  sequel  to 
''becoming  a  Christian"  is  following  Christ.  "Salva- 
tion "  is  a  large  word,  including  growth  in  character  and 
usefulness  and  all  the  high  attainments  which  are 
included  in  a  genuine  Christian  life.  This  is  what  Paul 
means  when  he  says,  "Work  out  your  own  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling,  for  it  is  God  that  worketh  in 
you."  Work  it  outl  Work  your  salvation  out  to  its 
uttermost  possibilities!  Be  a  maximum  Christian;  not 
content  with  being  saved  "so  as  by  fire"  but  craving 
"an  abundant  entrance"  into  the  kingdom.  All  this 
is  accomplished  in  the  close  and  faithful  following  of 
Christ. 


HOW  TO   BEGIN.  11 

This  "following"  is  the  sure  test  and  touchstone  by 
which  a  man  determines  whether  he  has  really  come  to 
Christ  and  believes  in  Him.  Our  "  good  works  "  are  not 
meritorious  as  having  any  part  in  our  deliverance  from 
condemnation ;  but  they  are  the  acid-test  of  our  faith ; 
and  they  also  determine  the  quality  of  the  heaven  that 
awaits  us.  And  in  this  sense,  "they  shall  in  no  wise 
lose  their  reward."  To  use  a  rude  figure;  a  man  going 
to  an  entertainment  gets  a  ticket  of  admission,  but  for 
his  reserved  seat  he  pays  something  more.  "The  just 
shall  live  by  faith";  but  the  abundance  of  their  life  is 
determined  by  the  product  of  their  faith.  Therefore,  he 
loses  much  who,  while  believing  in  Christ,  follows  Him 
afar  off. 

To  follow  Christ  at  the  best,  means  to  regard  Him 
as  our  Priest,  our  only  Priest,  whose  sacrifice  is  full 
and  suflBcient  for  us.  We  forsake  all  other  plans  of 
salvation  and  trust  simply  and  solely  to  the  merit  of  His 
atoning  blood. 

To  follow  Christ  means  to  regard  Him  as  our  only 
Prophet,  or  Teacher.  All  preachers,  ecclesiastical 
councils,  historic  creeds  and  symbols  are  remanded  to  a 
subordinate  place.    His  word  is  ultimate  for  us. 

To  follow  Christ  means  to  regard  Him  as  our  King. 
He  reigns  in  us  and  over  us.  His  love  constrains  us. 
His  wish  is  our  law.  His  authority  is  final.  "  Whatso- 
ever He  saith  unto  you,  do  it." 

And  to  follow  Christ  means  to  do  all  this  in  the  open. 
It  may  be  that  some  who  refuse  to  confess  Christ  are 


12  THE    EVOLUTION    OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

ultimately  saved  by  Him;  but  the  presumption  is 
immensely  against  the  man  who  lives  that  way.  "  Stand 
forth  into  the  midst!"    "Quit  thyself  like  a  man!" 

In  closing  we  return  to  iterate  and  reiterate  the 
proposition  that  our  salvation  from  sin  and  spiritual 
death  is  by  faith  in  Christ  and  by  that  only.  Let  no 
side  issues  enter  here  to  confuse  and  bewilder  us.  Let 
not  the  simplicity  of  the  proceeding  offend  us.  "He 
that  beheveth  shall  be  saved." 

That  is  final  and  conclusive.  Our  deliverance  is 
wholly  of  grace:  we  do  not  earn  it.  "The  wages  of 
sin  is  death:    but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life." 

*'Long  as  I  live,  I'll  still  be  crying 
Mercy's  free!" 

And  therefore  all  the  glory  is  unto  God:  "Of  whom 
are  we  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  is  made  unto  us  wisdom 
and  righteousness  and  sanctification  and  redemption; 
that,  according  as  it  is  written,  if  any  man  glory,  let 
him  glory  in  the  Lord." 

Nevertheless,  the  benefit  of  the  gift  is  conditioned 
on  our  acceptance  of  it.  The  manna  lies  about  our 
feet  "white  and  plenteous  as  hoar  frost,"  but  it  will  not 
save  us  from  famishing  unless  we  gather  it  up  and  eat  it. 
The  water  gushes  from  the  rock,  but  we  shall  die  of 
thirst  unless  we  dip  it  up  and  drink  it.  Christ  on  the 
Cross  saves  no  man ;  it  is  only  when  Christ  is  appropri- 
ated that  He  saves  us.  We  must  make  Him  ours.  We 
must  grasp  His  extended  hand.     Luther  said,  "The 


HOW  TO   BEGIN.  13 

Important  thing  is  the  possessive  pronoun,  first  person 
singular."  One  of  the  early  fathers  said,  "It  is  the 
grip  on  the  blood  that  saves  us."  Christ  stands  waiting 
— He  offers  Hfe  for  the  taking.  Who  will  have  it  ?  The 
worst  of  sinners  can  make  it  his  very  own  by  saying 
with  all  his  heart.  *'  I  will !    I  do ! " 


HOW  TO  HEAR. 


WIRELESS    MESSAGES. 


"The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God:  for  they 
are  foolishness  unto  him:  neither  can  he  know  them:  because  they  are 
spiritually  discerned."  I  Corinthians  2:  14. 

A  principle  is  here  laid  down  which  governs  in  the 
universal  realm  of  truth ;  to  wit,  the  principle  of  mutual 
adjustment.  If  you  strike  a  tuning  fork,  keyed  to  middle 
C,  it  will  awaken  a  response  in  another  fork,  providing 
the  latter  is  keyed  to  the  same  pitch,  but  not  otherwise. 
This  is  the  basic  fact  in  wireless  telegraphy.  On  Cape 
Cod  there  is  a  transmitting  station,  consisting  of  four 
steel  towers  with  a  bunch  of  wires  suspended  from  the 
top  and  meeting  at  a  common  point,  like  an  inverted 
cone.  If  the  power  be  applied  to  the  apex  of  this  cone, 
the  wires  begin  to  tremble ;  and  this  current,  oscillating 
at  a  rate  of,  say,  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  thousand 
vibrations  per  second,  creates  a  series  of  corresponding 
vibrations  in  the  surrounding  ether:  just  as  a  stone 
cast  into  a  pond  sends  out  concentric  circles.  This 
ether  wave  or  message  speeds  outward  with  incalculable 
rapidity  in  search  of  its  receiver.  Now  there  is  such  a 
receiver  at  Pol  Dhu  in  Cornwall;  where  the  wires  are 
precisely  attuned  to  the  transmitter  on  Cape  Cod;  that 
is,  their  oscillation  is  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine 

U4) 


HOW   TO    HEAR.  15 

thousand  per  second,  so  that  the  message  sent  from 
Cape  Cod  meets  no  response  until  it  finds  its  sympathetic 
station  at  Pol  Dhu ;  and  this  welcomes  it. 

The  system  of  wireless  telegraphy  which  is  justly 
credited  to  Marconi  is  not  an  invention  but  a  discovery. 
He  has  simply  lighted  upon  a  process  which  has  been 
going  on  perpetually  in  the  infinite  realms  of  space. 
The  sun  as  the  great  source  and  center  of  energy  in  our 
solar  universe  is  constantly  sending  out  messages  of 
light:  for  it  is  a  scientifically  demonstrated  fact  that 
a  beam  of  light  is  simply  an  electric  message;  that  is, 
a  vibrant  wave  of  ether.  And  here  the  same  principle 
holds,  that  no  message  can  be  received  except  by  some 
object  which  is  sympathetically  attuned  to  it.  Let  us 
suppose,  as  Professor  Pupin  suggests,  that  a  beam  of 
light  representing  a  certain  number  of  vibrations  per 
second,  intended  to  convey  the  color  red,  is  sent  forth 
from  the  sun.  It  speeds  through  space  until  it  reaches 
the  earth;  where,  intent  upon  its  eager  quest,  it  passes 
unresting  through  all  the  meadows,  since  no  grass-blade 
is  adjusted  to  receive  it;  passes  over  all  gardens,  no 
daisy  or  buttercup,  no  mignonette  or  heliotrope  being 
disposed  to  welcome  it,  until  it  finds  a  rose;  and  here 
it  pauses  and  finds  welcome,  because  the  rose  has  been 
precisely  co-ordinated  with  it. 

Let  us  go  further  now  and  we  will  find  a  spiritual 
analogy.  For  this  process,  which  has  been  discovered 
to  be  so  prevalent  in  nature,  has  infinite  field  and  scope 
of  operation  in  the  province  of  spiritual  things.     God 


16  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

as  the  great  transmitter  of  truth  bears  to  the  spiritual 
world  a  relation  corresponding  with  that  of  the  sun 
in  the  natural  world.  Assuming  that  there  is  a  God, 
and  that  we  are  created  in  His  image  and  after  His  like- 
ness, it  follows  as  an  inevitable  conclusion  that  He 
will  somehow  reveal  Himself  to  His  children  and  hold 
converse  with  them.  But  here  is  the  application  of  the 
principle  referred  to:  The  man  who  would  hear  the 
wireless  messages  of  God  must  himself  he  attuned  or 
adjusted  to  the  character  of  God. 

I.  Let  us  begin  with  Nature;  for  this  is  the  univer- 
sal medium  through  which  God  communicates  with  the 
children  of  men. 

Now  there  are  some  who  "  look  through  Nature  up  to 
Nature's  God"  and  hear  Him  speaking  in  everything 
about  them;  as  it  is  written,  " There  are  so  many  voices 
in  the  world  and  none  of  them  is  without  signification." 
Such  persons,  though  they  dwell  in  the  desert  of  Midian, 
find  "every  common  bush  afire  with  God."  At  night 
the  heavens  declare  His  glory  to  them  and  the  firmament 
showeth  His  handiwork.  This  was  in  Bryant's  mind 
when  he  wrote, 

"To  him  who  in  the  love  of  Nature  holds 
Communion  with  her  visible  forms,  she  speaks 
A  various  language." 

But  there  are  others  who  hear  no  voices,  and  see  noth- 
ing that  is  not  visible  to  fleshly  eyes;  like  Peter  Bell, 
of  whom  Wordsworth  says. 


HOW  TO   HEAR.  17 

**A  primrose  by  the  river's  brim 
A  yellow  primrose  was  to  him. 
And  it  was  nothing  more." 

Whence  this  difference  ?  It  arises  from  the  fact  that 
some  souls  are  sympathetic  with  God  and  others  are 
not.  There  was  Coleridge  who  was  so  devoutly  in- 
clined, so  open  to  the  reception  of  spiritual  truth,  that 
walking  in  the  vale  of  Chamounix  he  heard  the  snow- 
capped mountains  and  ice  falls  echoing  their  Maker's 
name. 

"God!  Let  the  torrents  like  a  shout  of  nations 
Answer,  and  let  the  ice  plains  echo,  God! 
God!    Sing,  ye  meadow  streams  with  gladsome  voice; 
Ye  pine  groves  with  your  soft  and  soul-like  sounds; 
Ye  living  flowers  that  skirt  the  eternal  frost; 
Ye  wild  goats  sporting  round  the  eagle's  nest; 
Ye  eagles,  playmates  of  the  mountain  stream;  ' 
Ye  lightnings,  the  dread  arrows  of  the  winds; 
Ye  sounds  and  wonders  of  the  elements 
Utter  forth  God,  and  fill  the  hills  with  praise!" 

But  there  are  peasants  born  and  bred  in  Chamounix 
who,  if  asked  their  interpretation  of  its  sounds  would 
answer,  "I  hear  nothing  but  the  lowing  of  my  cattle 
and  the  bleating  of  my  flocks."  Thus  there  are  many 
who  have  no  ears  for  the  song  which  is  within  the  song 
of  birds  and  no  eye  for  the  visions  which  are  within  the 
beauty  of  the  natural  world.  They  are  of  the  earth 
earthy,  bound  down  to  things  material,  dreaming  no 
dreams  and  seeing  no  visions. 


18  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

"Great  God!    I'd  rather  be 
A  pagan  suckled  in  a  creed  outworn; 
So  might  I,  standing  on  this  pleasant  lea, 
Have  glimpses  that  would  make  me  less  forlorn, 
Catch  sight  of  Proteus  rising  from  the  sea, 
Or  hear  old  Triton  blow  his  wreathed  horn ! " 

It  is  the  misfortune  of  all  misfortunes  to  be  thus  bond- 
slaves to  the  five  senses;  to  see  nothing  beyond  the 
range  of  physical  vision  and  the  circumscription  of  the 
finger  tips.  This  is  to  be  agnostics,  indeed;  to  have  no 
clairvoyance,  no  spiritual  apprehension,  no  second 
sight,  no  faith.  It  is  an  eternal  and  immeasurable  ca- 
lamity to  stand  in  the  midst  of  a  universe  where  the 
ether  is  vibrant  with  messages  of  truth,  so  deeply  ab- 
sorbed in  our  little  plans  and  pursuits  that  we  hear 
nothing  above  or  beyond  the  rattle  of  the  machinery 
of  physical  life. 

II.  Let  us  now  turn  from  Nature  to  the  ScriptureSy 
which  claim  to  be  "  the  Word  of  God. " 

There  is  an  attempt  in  some  quarters  to  reduce  them 
to  the  level  of  other  Hterature;  and  those  who  assume 
this  attitude  will  find  in  these  inspired  records  precisely 
what  they  find  in  other  books  and  no  more.  Here,  as 
elsewhere,  men  find  what  they  are  looking  for,  and  hear 
what  they  are  hstening  for.  The  mere  student  of 
literature  finds  in  the  Bible  myths  and  parables,  songs 
and  chronicles  of  surpassing  beauty:  but  there  are 
others  who  hearken  as  at  Divine  Oracles,  and  hear  the 
very  voice  of  God. 


HOW  TO   HEAR.  19 

How  are  we  to  account  for  this  difference  of  esti- 
mate as  to  the  spiritual  value  and  veracious  integrity  of 
the  Scriptures?  It  is  due,  as  before,  to  a  difference 
of  qualification  or  predisposition.  In  some  cases  men 
hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  hear,  as  Samuel  did  in 
the  early  watches  of  the  morning,  when  he  said,  "  Speak 
Lord,  for  Thy  servant  heareth!"  In  other  cases  they 
stand  in  a  critical  or  skeptical  attitude;  as  Theodore 
Parker  did  when  he  remarked,  "I  am  not  willing  to 
receive  this  statement  upon  the  authority  of  any  such 
person  as  God."  There  is  nothing  in  the  world  that  can 
so  destroy  the  receptivity  of  the  soul  as  this  pride  of 
worldly  wisdom.  No  man  can  hear  a  heavenly  message 
who  is  not  prepared  to  admit  that  there  are  some  things 
which  he  can  learn  from  God. 

The  fact  that  a  man  is  Hberally  educated  in  certain 
directions,  does  not  argue  that  he  is  competent  to  pass 
judgment  on  a  divine  communication.  In  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century  there  were  two  men  living 
in  England  whose  names  are  equally  historic  and  illus- 
trious for  broad  culture.  One  of  these  was  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  and  the  other  John  Milton.  Now  it  is  a 
singular  fact  that  Sir  Isaac  Newton  could  not  appre- 
ciate "Paradise  Lost,"  and  equally  singular  that  John 
Milton  could  see  nothing  in  "The  Principia."  Ob- 
viously this  was  not  to  the  discredit  of  either  Paradise 
Lost  or  The  Principia;  nor  was  it  a  reflection  upon  the 
technical  learning  of  either  man.  It  simply  indicates 
that  in  order  to  apprehend  truth  in  any  quarter  a  man 


90  THE   EVOLUTION   OF  A   CHRISTIAN. 

must  be  sympathetically  disposed  toward  it.  Milton 
had  no  mind  for  mathematics,  nor  Newton  for  poetry. 
So  the  wisest  of  men,  as  the  world  holds  wisdom,  may 
come  to  the  Scriptures  and  find  nothing  there;  as  the 
soldiers  of  Titus,  at  the  taking  of  Jerusalem,  threw  open 
the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  and  found  it  empty.  It  is  a 
proverb  that  none  are  so  blind  as  those  who  will  not  see. 
So  if  we  would  hear  God  speaking  through  the  Script- 
ures, we  must  divest  ourselves  of  prejudice  and  be 
willing  to  hear  Him. 

III.  God  speaks  to  us,  also,  through  His  Incarnate 
Son;  who,  for  this  reason,  is  called  "  the  Word." 

But  here  again  we  observe  a  great  diversity  of  opinion. 
There  are  multitudes  who  regard  Christ  at  the  chief- 
est  among  ten  thousand  and  altogether  lovely;  while 
other  multitudes  see  in  Him  nothing  but  "  a  root  out  of 
a  dry  ground,  having  no  form  nor  comeliness  nor  beauty 
that  they  should  desire  Him. 

Why  this  wide  difference?  It  is  due  to  the  same 
difference  of  responsiveness.  Some  are  prepared  to  re- 
ceive Christ  because  they  profoundly  feel  the  need  of 
Him;  the  sense  of  sin  lies  heavy  upon  them  and  they 
would  fain  be  delivered  from  it.  They  wait,  like  aged 
Simeon  in  the  temple,  for  the  coming  of  the  mighty  One; 
and,  beholding  Him,  they  instantly  receive  Him  as 
divinely  sent,  saying,  "  Now  lettest  Thou  Thy  servant 
depart  in  peace ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  Thy  salvation ! " 
They  welcome  the  message  because  they  were  waiting 
for  it.  Others  like  Nathanael  cry,  "  Can  any  good  thing 


HOW   TO    HEAR.  21 

come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  "  and  prejudice  must  be  over- 
come before  they  can  receive  Him.  Thus  it  is  written, 
"He  came  unto  His  own,  and  His  own  received  Him 
not ;  but  as  many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  the 
right  to  become  the  sons  of  God. "  Prejudice  is  grounded 
in  pride  of  worldly  wisdom;  and  this  is  always  the 
great  obstacle  between  the  soul  and  Christ  as  the 
"  Word  "  or  message  of  God. 

Thus  it  has  come  to  pass  that  some  who  have  been 
distinguished  for  their  attainments  in  certain  provinces 
of  knowledge,  have  been  wholly  blind  on  the  Godward 
side.  One  cannot  forget  how  Charles  Darwin,  after 
spending  his  life  in  experimenting  along  the  lines  of 
physical  science,  died  lamenting  that  his  spiritual  na- 
ture had  been  starved.  In  his  childhood  he  had  been 
deeply  religious,  he  said ;  but  he  had  dwelt  so  long  amid 
an  environment  of  purely  material  things  that  God  and 
immortality  had  become  empty  dreams  to  him.  He 
called  this  "atrophy,"  that  is,  a  wasting  away  for  want 
of  nourishment.  All  through  his  life  he  had  fostered 
the  natural  man;  or,  as  Paul  calls  it, ''  fsuchikos,''  "the 
psychical  man."  Wherefore  he  could  reason  indefi- 
nitely in  the  realm  of  material  things,  but  the  super- 
natural was  wholly  ruled  out. 

IV.    God  speaks,  also,  by  the  voice  of  His  Spirit. 

There  is  more  skepticism  at  this  point,  I  believe,  than 
anywhere  else,  in  these  days.  We  are  living  under  the 
dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  is  now  the  Execu- 
tive of  God's  kingdom  on  earth;  and  those  who  are  in 


22  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

this  kingdom  have  to  do  officially  with  Him.  Yet  there 
are  many  who  characterize  the  Third  Person  of  the 
Godhead  by  a  neuter  pronoun,  and  regard  Him  merely 
as  an  influence  or  effluence,  bearing  no  vital  or  personal 
relation  to  them. 

There  is  obviously  a  vital  difference  of  opinion  here.  Is 
the  Holy  Spirit  the  personal  director  of  our  life  and  ser- 
vice, or  is  He  not  "  He  "  at  all  but  merely  "  it "  ?  If  He 
sustains  the  former  relation  to  us,  it  is  because  our  souls 
are  in  harmony  with  His  great  purposes  concerning  us  and 
adjusted  to  receive  communications  from  Him.  In  this 
case  we  stand  as  Elijah  did  on  Horeb,  his  face  wrapped 
in  his  mantle,  while  he  hearkened  to  "the  still  small 
Voice."  And  living  thus  we  follow  His  guidance  as  did 
Abraham  on  his  journey  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  along 
the  windings  of  the  Great  River,  ever  heeding  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Voice,  pitching  his  tent  or  moving  on  as  the 
Voice  bade  him.  Otherwise  we  are  like  the  multitudes 
at  Pentecost  who,  despite  the  manifestations  of  divine 
power  in  the  sound  of  the  rushing  mighty  wind  and  the 
miracle  of  the  tongues,  looked  on  in  doubt  and  bewilder- 
ment, saying,  "These  men  are  full  of  new  wine!"  In  a 
recent  book  on  religious  experience  the  manifestations  of 
pagan  frenzy  are  collated  with  the  feelings  and  convic- 
tions of  Christian  believers,  and  all  alike  are  subjected  to 
analysis  by  the  so-called  "scientific  method."  Thus 
judged,  there  is  nothing  in  regeneration,  nothing  in 
sanctification,  nothing  but  infatuation  in  the  upHfting 
and  transporting  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 


HOW   TO    HEAR.  23 

In  View  of  such  considerations  is  it  not  apparent  that 
the  soul  is  blind  and  deaf  to  heavenly  visions  and  revel- 
ations, unless  it  is  attuned  to  them  ?    And  what  solemn 
significance  there  is  in  the  words  of  Jesus:    "He  that 
hath  ears  to  hear  let  him  hear!"  There  are,  indeed,  "so 
many  voices  and  none  of  them  without  signification"; 
but  sordid  souls  are  unable  to  interpret  them.     The 
people  standing  by  say,  "It  thundereth!"  O  for  the 
hearing  ear  and  the  understanding  heart!    What  avails 
it  to  call  a  commission  of  blind  men  to  pass  judgment 
on  the  art  of  Titian  or  of  Raphael  ?    What  avails  it  to 
bid  a  jury  of  deaf  men  sit  in  judgment  on  anthems 
and    oratorios?       Thus    when    the    philosophers    of 
Athens   heard   Paul  preaching  on  Mars  Hill,  "some 
mocked   and   others  said,    *We  will  hear  thee  again 
concerning  this    matter.'"     The   Gospel   is  "foolish- 
ness to  the  Greek,  and  to  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block; 
but   to  them  that   are  saved,   it   is   the   wisdom  and 
power   of   God."    Men  sit   like   blind   Bartimaeus  in 
the  Valley  of  Palms;   and  its  beauty  is  all  unknown; 
until  the  Lord  passing  by  says  to  them,  "Receive  thy 
sight!"    The  five  physical  senses  are  as  five  gates  open 
to  physical  truth;  but  faith  is  the  sixth  gate,  at  which 
alone  spiritual  verities  can  enter.     By  all  that  makes 
life   worth   living   and   immortality  worth  winning  it 
behooves  us  to  keep  that  gate  open;  for  it  is  a  true 
saying,  "He  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that 
He  is,  and  that  He  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  dili- 
gently seek  Him." 


HOW  TO  SEE. 

god's  horses  and  chariots. 

"The  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man;  and  he  saw;  and,  behold, 
the  mountain  was  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire."     II  Kings  6:  18. 

It  was  a  time  of  despondency  in  Israel.  The  Syrians 
had  harried  the  people  until  they  trembled  at  the  rustle 
of  a  leaf.  All  the  northern  country  about  the  sources  of 
the  Jordan  had  been  devastated  as  if  by  fire.  Once  and 
again  Samaria  had  been  besieged,  until  the  grim  game  of 
slaughter  and  plunder  had  become  a  mere  pastime  for 
Ben-hadad  and  his  army. 

But  just  now  the  Syrian  king  was  in  a  quandary.  For 
some  reason  all  his  recent  movements  had  been  antici- 
pated and  brought  to  nought.  It  transpired  that  this 
was  due  to  the  prophetic  gift  of  Elisha,  who  made  known 
the  plans  formed  in  the  royal  bedchamber.  This  man 
must  be  put  out  of  the  way. 

The  duties  of  Elisha  as  superintendent  of  the  Schools 
of  the  Prophets,  carried  him  about  from  one  point  to 
another;  and  it  chanced  that,  in  his  itinerary,  accom- 
panied by  one  of  his  theological  students,  he  came  to  the 
town  of  Dothan.  Here  was  Ben-hadad 's  opportunity. 
In  the  night  the  Syrian  army  invested  the  town.  At 
dawn  the  student  arose,  and,  perceiving  the  situation, 
ran  back  to  EHsha,  crying,  "Alas,  master!  What  shall 

(24) 


HOW  TO   SEE.  25 

we  do  ?"  The  answer  was,  "  Fear  not;  for  they  that  be 
with  us  are  more  than  they  that  be  with  them."  This 
assurance,  however,  seems  not  to  have  been  sufficient  to 
quiet  the  student's  fears.  Then  Elisha  prayed,  "  O  Lord 
open  his  eyes  that  he  may  see!"  The  prayer  was  an- 
swered; the  youth's  "eyes  were  opened;  and  he  saw; 
and,  behold,  the  mountain  was  full  of  horses  and  char- 
iots of  fire!" 

Here  is  a  vision  of  good  cheer  for  the  fearful  and 
down-hearted.  There  are  times  when  we  all  find  our- 
selves in  the  town  of  Dothan  with  hosts  of  enemies 
encamped  about  us.  We  have  misgivings  as  to  our  sal- 
vation, as  to  the  welfare  of  the  community,  as  to  the 
survival  of  the  righteous  cause.  There  are  fears  within 
and  foes  without.    Now,  master,  what  shall  we  do  ? 

O  for  the  gift  of  second  sight!  For  there  are  more 
things  in  heaven  and  earth  than  are  dreamt  of  in  our 
sordid  philosophy.  God  is  ever  in  the  foreground  of 
events  with  reinforcements  that  are  invisible  to  fleshly 
eyes. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  on  that  memorable  day,  one  fact 
was  impressed  on  the  mind  of  the  young  man  in  Dothan 
with  startling  distinctness;  to  wit,  the  Reality  of  the 
Unseen  World. 

His  vision  was  no  dream;  the  horses  and  chariots 
which  he  saw  on  the  mountain  slopes  were  not  spectral, 
but  quite  as  substantial  as  the  Syrian  soldiers  who  sat 
chatting  in  the  doorways  of  their  tents.  Nay,  they  were 
more  real  and  substantial.    The  things  which  are  appre- 


26  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

hended  by  faith  within  the  province  of  the  spiritual  life 
are  destined  to  outlast  all  tangibilities.  "The  things 
which  are  seen  are  temporal,  but  the  things  which  are 
not  seen  are  eternal."  All  that  I  touch  with  my  fingers 
shall  ultimately  crumble  into  dust  as  will  my  hands 
themselves ;  but  that  which  I  apprehend  by  my  spirit- 
ual sense  is  destined  to  endure  forever  and  ever.  What 
is  more  substantial,  apparently,  than  a  silver  dollar 
in  my  hand.^  But  when  that  dollar  is  expended  in 
charity,  the  prayer  which  is  offered  by  the  benefici- 
ary in  behalf  of  the  donor  will  infinitely  outlast  it.  So 
if  permanency  be  the  test  of  reality,  the  spiritual  is  ever 
more  real  than  the  material.  Eternity  is  more  real 
than  time;  heaven  is  more  real  than  earth.  The  homes 
that  we  live  in  shall  vanish  from  the  earth,  but  we 
have  another  home,  "an  house  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal,  in  the  heavens."  All  our  cities  are  destined 
to  share  the  doom  of  Thebes  and  Babylon,  but  there  is 
"a  city  which  hath  foundations  whose  builder  and 
maker  is  God." 

And  this  spiritual  world  is  nearer  than  we  think.  I 
can  come  from  the  Mississippi  valley  on  a  twenty-four- 
hour  train :  but  how  long  does  it  take  a  soul  to  go  from 
earth  to  heaven  ?  An  infinitesimal  fraction  of  a  second ! 
So  frail  is  the  separating  veil  that  a  breath  of  noxious 
wind  will  rend  it.  O,  no;  heaven  is  not  "  a  happy  land, 
far,  far  away. "  God's  horses  and  chariots  do  not  need 
to  weary  themselves  with  forced  marches  on  their  way 
hither. 


HOW   TO   SEE.  27 

0  could  I  see, 

As  in  truth  they  be. 
The  glories  of  heaven  that  compass  me , 

1  should  lightly  hold 
The  tissued  fold 

Of  that  marvellous  curtain  of  blue  and  gold. 

Soon  the  whole. 

Like  a  parchment  scroll. 
Shall  before  my  amazed  sight  uproU; 

And  without  a  screen. 

At  one  burst  be  seen — 
The  Presence  wherein  I've  ever  been. 

If  these  things  are  true,  it  is  obviously  of  the  utmost 
importance  that  we  should  ponder  them,  lest  we  allow 
ourselves  to  be  of  the  earth  earthy.  We  differ  from  all 
the  lower  orders  of  life  in  that  we  belong  to  two  worlds. 
One  of  them  is  merely  the  threshold  of  the  other.  Life 
here  gets  all  its  solemnity  from  the  fact  that  it  leads  to 
the  life  beyond.  Here  is  the  fatal  flaw  in  Confucian- 
ism; it  teaches  that,  being  ignorant  of  spiritual  things, 
we  should  live  for  the  seen  and  temporal:  "As  to  God 
and  immortality,"  said  Confucius,  "we  do  not  know. 
We  do  know  that  we  are  living  here  and  now,  and  it  be- 
hooves us  to  make  the  best  of  it."  The  result  is  that  the 
Chinese  are  the  most  sordid  people  on  earth.  And 
there  are  those  who,  living  in  the  noonday  light  of  Christ- 
ian civilization,  deride  Christians  for  their  ideal  of 
"  other- worldliness."  God  be  praised,  we  do  look  for  a 
better  country,  even  an  heavenly,  and  try  to  live  accord- 
ingly; and  in  this  we   fondly  trust  that  we  are  con- 


28  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

ducting  ourselves   as  becomes   the   children   of   God. 

A  boy  in  Corsica  was  wont  to  climb  the  hills  that  sur- 
rounded his  narrow  home  and  gaze  away  across  the 
waters  with  wistful  eyes.  Yonder  lay  the  great  world! 
He  dreamed  dreams  and  saw  visions  of  conquest. 
But  for  those  dreams  and  visions  he  might  have  been 
content  to  spend  his  life  in  Corsica:  as  it  was,  he 
trumpeted  his  name  along  the  ages.  There  are  no  con- 
quests for  those  who  are  satisfied  to  dwell  within  the 
small  environment  of  a  groveling  life.  Up  to  the  heights, 
O  my  soul!  Look  beyond;  for  life  is  yonder.  Life! 
Eternal  life! 

But  the  youth  whose  eyes  were  opened  in  Dothan  saw 
more  than  the  reality  of  spiritual  things.  The  Philo- 
sophy of  History  came  to  him  that  day. 

Once  and  again  he  had  seen  the  armies  of  Syria  cross 
the  mountains  to  invade  his  country;  and  at  sight  of  their 
waving  banners  and  gleaming  spears  his  heart  had  sunk 
within  him.  But  nevermore  could  he  doubt  the  out- 
come, since  he  had  seen  these  horses  and  chariots  of  fire. 
He  knew  now  how  to  read  the  logic  of  events. 

O  blest  is  he  to  whom  is  given 

The  instinct  that  can  tell 
That  God  is  on  the  field,  when  He 

Is  most  invisible! 

At  this  point  we  note  the  mistake  made  by  Gibbon  in 
his  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Romxin  Empire.  He  saw  the 
great  fabric  grow  and  mount  aloft  Hke  the  historic  tower 
in  the  vale  of  Shinar;    and  then  for  some  inscrutable 


HOW  TO  SEE.  29 

reason  its  growth  was  arrested,  and  developing  a  weak- 
ness, like  leprosy  in  mortar,  it  hastened  to  its  fall. 
Why  ?  Gibbon  could  not  tell.  His  eyes  were  not  pro- 
phetic eyes ;  he  saw  not  the  Stone  hewn  out  of  the  moun- 
tain that  smote  it. 

The  problem  of  history  is  algebraic ;  inasmuch  as  we 
are  always  working  with  an  unknown  factor,  "x," 
which  must  be  reduced  to  known  terms. 

In  the  process  of  solution  we  come  upon  certain  singu- 
lar facts  or  results  incidental  to  the  main  problem. 

One  of  these  is  the  Indestructibility  of  Truth  and 
Righteousness. 

Everything  else  is  liable  to  overthrow;  but  truth  is 
proof  against  the  tooth  of  time  and  rasure  of  oblivion. 
Fires  cannot  burn  it;  floods  cannot  overwhelm  it. 
Now  and  then,  like  the  sun,  it  seems  to  vanish  under  a 
passing  cloud,  but  only  to  reappear  in  greater  splendor. 
How  shall  we  account  for  this? 

Truth  crushed  to  earth  will  rise  again; 

The  eternal  years  of  God  are  hers; 
But  Error,  wounded,  writhes  with  pain. 

And  dies  amid  his  worshippers. 

Another  of  the  facts  incidental  to  the  solution  of  our 
problem  is  the  Power  of  Minorities. 

Napoleon  never  made  a  greater  mistake  than  when  he 
said,  "Victory  is  with  the  strongest  battalions.  "  Great 
were  the  armies  of  Ben-hadad,  and  everything  was  in  his 
favor;  but  Israel,  "a  little  flock  of  goats  by  the  water- 
side, "  was  stronger.    Is  it  not  written,  "  One  shall  chase 


30  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

a  thousand  and  two  shall  put  ten  thousand  to  flight  ?  " 
Explain,  if  you  can,  how  Gideon's  three  hundred,  with 
lamps,  pitchers  and  trumpets,  were  able  to  overwhelm 
the  hosts  of  Midian  that  were  "like  grasshoppers  for 
multitude. "  The  night  before  the  battle  of  Bannock- 
burn,  the  English  king,  surveying  the  Scottish  array 
from  the  top  of  a  hill,  expressed  surprise  at  their  insig- 
nificance. But  presently  he  saw  them  fall  upon  their 
knees  and  rise  again  to  lift  the  Psalm:  "God  is  our 
refuge  and  strength;  therefore  will  we  not  fear  though 
the  earth  be  removed  and  though  the  mountains  be  car- 
ried into  the  midst  of  the  sea!"  and  he  said  to  his  com- 
panion, "Believe  me,  these  men  will  win  tomorrow  or 
die."  And  he  was  right;  they  won.  All  along  the 
chronicles  we  happen  on  this  fact,  the  strange,  dispro- 
portionate power  of  the  righteous  minority.  And 
thoughtful  readers  must  account  for  it. 

Another  of  these  concurrent  facts  in  the  problem  is 
the  Irresistible  Momentum  of  Progress. 

The  world  grows  better  every  day.  This  is  proven 
beyond  peradventure,  not  by  a  momentary  glimpse  of 
a  skirmish  on  the  border  of  the  field,  but  by  the  broader 
view  that  embraces  the  entire  campaign.  We  look  on 
marches  and  countermarches,  and  at  times  our  hearts 
misgive  us;  but  when  the  smoke-clouds  lift,  all's  well. 
The  hands  on  the  great  dial  of  heaven  always  turn  one 
way.  The  movement  is  distinctly  tidal:  an  invisible 
force  Hfts  the  mighty  volume  of  the  waters  and  rolls  it  in 
successive  waves,  now  advancing,  now  receding,  but 


How  TO   SEE.  SI 

ever  gaining  and  creeping  onward  to  high  tide :  so  is  the 
march  of  civiUzation  by  ebb  and  flow,  yet  ever  onward. 
But  onward  to  what  ? 

This  brings  us  to  another  fact,  namely,  the  Conver- 
gence of  the  Lines  of  Progress. 

The  chronicles  show  that  men  and  nations  are  not 
moving  in  parallel  lines,  but  toward  some  objective, 
focal  point.  This  is  the  consummation  of  which  the 
poets  have  been  singing:  "The  one  far-off,  divine 
event  to  which  the  whole  creation  moves."  It  is  the 
Golden  Age. 

Thus  pursuing  the  solution  of  our  problem,  we  finally 
resolve  the  unknown  factor  into  known  terms.  "X" 
equals  God.  His  horses  and  chariots  wheel  into  view. 
The  great  reserve!  The  mighty  reinforcements!  What 
shall  we  then  say  to  these  things  ?  If  God  be  for  us,  who 
can  be  against  us.^ 

Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold;    Wrong  forever  on  the  throne; 
Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future,  and,  behind  the  dim  un- 
known, 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow,  keeping  watch  above  His 
own! 

But  this  was  not  all  our  young  man  learned  in  Dothan. 
By  his  vision  of  God's  embattled  host  that  day  he  found 
the  Secret  of  a  Happy  Life. 

He  had  hitherto  been  timid  and  apprehensive,  for 
himself  and  his  people;  but  he  could  tremble  no  more. 

He  knew  that,  as  for  himself,  though  shut  up  in  Do- 
than and  encompassed  by  the  enemy,  no  harm  could  be- 


82  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

fall  him.  Blessed  is  the  man  who  thus  feels  the  sustain- 
ing strength  of  the  everlasting  arms !  The  lesson  came 
to  Jacob  when,  on  the  heights  of  Bethel,  he  laid  himself 
down  to  sleep  with  a  stone  for  his  pillow.  He  was  a  fu- 
gitive, lone  and  desolate,  forsaken  by  friends  and,  as  he 
thought,  abandoned  of  God.  But  his  eyes  were  opened 
and  he  saw  the  ladder  reaching  from  earth  to  heaven, 
with  angels  bearing  his  prayers  aloft  and  descending 
with  blessings.  Observe  his  waking  thought,  "The 
Lord  is  in  this  place  and  I  knew  it  not!" 

So  comes  the  peace  of  God.  The  student  knew  now 
that  Samaria  was  safe.  In  vain  did  the  armies  of  Ben- 
hadad  besiege  it.  Could  they  outwit  God  ?  Here  is  a 
lesson  for  us  in  the  midst  of  our  campaigns  for  Municipal 
Reform.  There  is  nothing  new  in  the  issue.  "  Graft  '*  is 
as  old  as  greed,  and  greed  is  as  old  as  sin.  There  were 
"red  lights"  in  Samaria  as  there  have  been  in  New 
York.  Welcome,  then,  the  vision  of  the  horses  and 
chariots  of  fire !  The  friends  and  defenders  of  righteous- 
ness are  never  alone.  If  they  fail,  it  can  only  be  because 
they  lean  upon  themselves  and  are  blind  to  God's  ban- 
ners waving  on  the  hills. 

Let  the  young  man  of  Dothan  cany  back  to  his  fellow 
students  in  the  Schools  of  the  Prophets  an  assurance 
that  the  righteous  cause  is  in  no  real  danger.  Israel 
could  not  be  overthrown  until  it  had  accomplished  its 
destiny.  No  more  can  the  Church ;  which  is  so  founded 
upon  a  rock  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it.    Opposition  ?  Aye.  The  foot-fall  of  the  pur- 


HOW  TO   SEE.  33 

suing  host  of  Pharaoh  is  ever  heard;  but  tomorrow 
Miriam  will  lift  up  her  song,  "Who  is  like  unto  our 
God,  glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing  won- 
ders ?  The  horse  and  his  rider  hath  He  cast  into  the 
sea!"  Herod  is  ever  plotting  the  massacre  of  the  inno- 
cents ;  but  the  Christ-child  lives  and  from  His  throne  on 
Calvary,  where  He  appears  to  die,  He  stretches  forth  His 
hands,  saying,  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  un- 
to me!"  The  kings  of  the  earth  are  ever  setting  them- 
selves and  the  rulers  taking  counsel  together,  saying, 
"Let  us  break  His  bands  asunder  and  cast  away  His 
cords  from  us!"  But  He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens 
shall  laugh;  the  Lord  shall  have  them  in  derision. 

I  have  called  this  the  Secret  of  a  Happy  Life:  to 
know  that  the  Lord  reigneth  and  all's  well;  to  be  able 
to  say,  "Who  shall  lay  anything  to  the  charge  of  God's 
elect  ?  It  is  God  that  justifieth.  Who  is  he  that  con- 
demneth?  It  is  Christ  that  died";  so  to  read  history  as  to 
discern  wonderful  things  between  the  lines.  Do  we  bor- 
row trouble  because  an  assault  is  made  on  Christ  and 
the  Bible,  or  because  the  fundamental  facts  of  Chris- 
tianity are  called  in  question  by  many  who  profess  to 
love  truth  and  God.^  But  all  this  is  ancient  history. 
These  things  have  been  going  on  from  the  beginning. 
O  ye  of  little  faith,  lift  up  your  eyes;  behold  how  the 
mountains  are  full  of  horses  and  chariots! 

In  the  darkest  hour  of  Elijah's  life,  pursued  by  the 
wrath  of  Jezebel,  he  fled  to  the  wilderness  and  laid  him- 
self down  under  a  juniper  tree.    His  desire  was  to  die. 


S4  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

And  the  Lord  said,  "  What  doest  thou  here  ?  "  He  an- 
swered, **  I  have  been  very  jealous  for  the  Lord  of  Hosts; 
but  Thy  people  have  forsaken  Thy  covenant,  thrown 
down  Thine  altars  and  slain  Thy  prophets  with  the  sword ; 
so  that  I,  even  I  only,  am  left;  and  they  seek  my  life." 
And  God  encouraged  him  once  and  again,  dissipating 
his  fears,  girding  him  with  power,  and  saying  at  length, 
"Return  on  thy  way  to  Damascus;  and  when  thou 
comest,  anoint  Hazael  to  be  king  over  Syria. "  Aye, 
God  crowns  the  kings  of  Syria!  Ben-hadad  is  his  pup- 
pet.. The  heart  of  principalities  and  powers  is  in  His 
hands  as  the  rivers  of  water.  He  rules  in  the  destiny  of 
men  and  nations.  He  maketh  even  the  wrath  of  men 
to  praise  Him. 

Wherefore,  up  with  your  hearts,  O  followers  of  Christ! 
Give  no  place  to  melancholy.  "They  never  lose  who 
side  with  God."  In  the  darkest  crisis  of  our  Civil  War 
a  minister  asked  of  President  Lincoln,  "Do  you  think 
God  is  on  our  side  ?  "  He  answered,  "  I*m  not  worrying 
about  that.  What  I  want  is  to  make  sure  that  we  are  on 
God's  side."  And,  indeed,  this  is  the  important  matter. 
For  the  armies  of  Ahab  and  of  Ben-hadad  alike  may 
come  and  go,  but  God's  horses  and  chariots  ride  on. 
Fall  in!  Keep  step  to  the  trumpets  of  the  Lord!  His 
kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom  and  His  dominion 
is  for  ever  and  ever. 


HOW    TO    GROW. 

PUTTING   OFF   AND    PUTTING   ON. 

"But  ye  have  not  so  learned  Christ;  if  so  be  that  ye  have  heard  Him, 
and  have  been  taught  by  Him,  as  the  truth  is  in  Jesus:  that  ye  put  ofiF,  as 
concerning  the  former  manner  of  life,  the  old  man,  which  is  corrupt  accord- 
ing to  the  deceitful  lusts;  and  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind,  and 
that  ye  put  on  the  new  man,  which  after  God  is  created  in  righteousness 
and  true  holiness."     Ephesians  4:  20-24. 

It  is  one  thing  to  learn  about  Christ  and  another  to 
learn  Him.  The  difference  is  like  that  between  reading 
a  biography  and  taking  a  portrait.  If  you  were  to 
engage  an  artist  to  paint  your  portrait,  saying,  "  Here  is 
a  bundle  of  photographs,  here  are  the  main  incidents 
of  my  life,  proceed";  he  would  laugh  at  you.  He  must 
have  "sittings,"  so  that  he  may  catch  your  pose,  your 
manner,  your  "atmosphere."  He  must  see  you  face  to 
face  and  eye  to  eye,  that  he  may  know  you. 

We  have  been  learning  about  Christ  from  our  youth 
up ;  but  have  we  caught  His  life-giving  spirit  ?  We  sit 
about  His  feet,  and  hsten  to  His  words,  and  believe  them, 
and  formulate  them  into  our  creed  and  moral  code;  and 
we  derive  an  incalculable  benefit  from  doing  so;  never- 
theless this  is  not  that  Hfe  eternal  which  is  to  know 
Him  (John  17:  3).  He,  Himself,  is  the  one  comprehen- 
sive fact  in  the  curriculum  of  our  spiritual  life.  To  see 
Him  is  to  see  Character.  To  learn  Him  is  to  imbibe 
the  mind  that  was  in  Him.     To  know  Him  is  to  attain 

(35) 


36  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

unto  the  fullness  of  the  stature  of  a  man ;  as  it  is  written, 
"  We  all  beholding,  as  in  a  glass,  the  glory  of  the  Lord, 
are  changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory 
as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord."  This  is  the  evolution  of 
the  saint;  the  making  of  a  man. 

There  are  five  steps  leading  upward  to  the  per- 
fection of  character,  as  follows: 

First.  An  apprehension  of  the  fact  that  the  natural 
man  is  Sold  under  Sin. 

Now  this  does  not  mean  that  there  is  nothing  good 
in  the  natural  man,  but  that  his  tendency  is  towards 
evil.  He  is  a  creature  of  habit,  and  his  habit  is  bad. 
He  is  a  slave  in  the  galley,  chained  to  the  bench ;  when 
his  master  bids  him  row,  he  bends  to  the  oar.  This 
it  what  is  meant  by  being  sold  under  sin. 

The  second  step  is  to  perceive  that  we  are  Ransomed 
in  Christ. 

Jesus  said,  "  The  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  minis- 
tered unto  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a 
ransom  for  many."  The  ransom  for  our  deliverance 
was  paid  on  Calvary;  as  it  is  written,  "Ye  are  not 
your  own,  ye  are  bought  with  a  price,  not  with 
silver  and  gold,  but  the  precious  blood  of  Jesus,  as  of 
a  lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot."  In  order 
to  receive  the  fall  benefit  of  this  "propitiation  for 
sin"  it  is  necessary  that  we  shall  appropriate  it,  by 
the  exercise  of  faith,  that  is,  drop  the  oar,  quit  the 
galleys  and  enter  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  chil- 
dren of  God. 


HOW   TO    GROW.  37 

The  third  step  is  Regeneration;  which  follows  an 
acceptance  of  Christ. 

This  is  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  is  neces- 
sary to  our  spiritual  life;  as  Jesus  said,  "Verily  I  say 
unto  you,  except  a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God."  This  means  more  than  "turning 
over  a  new  leaf"  or  making  a  good  resolution,  more 
than  putting  on  an  outward  veneering  of  morality  or 
joining  the  church:  it  is  a  revolutionary  change;  the 
getting  of  a  new  heart,  a  new  conscience,  a  new  mind, 
a  new  purpose.  "  Old  things  are  passed  away,  behold, 
all  things  are  become  new." 

The  fourth  step  is  Conflict. 

This  is  life-long.  Regeneration  is  only  the  begin- 
ning of  life ;  it  does  not  eradicate  the  evil  in  our  nature 
but  fatally  wounds  it;  so  that  thenceforth  there  is  an 
unceasing  struggle  within  us.  The  end,  however,  is 
to  be  seen  from  the  beginning.  The  better  nature  is 
bound  to  win.  The  "new  man,"  strenuous  by  reason 
of  ever  increasing  life,  is  constantly  getting  the  better 
of  the  "  old  man  "  who  is  stricken  with  death.  Do  not 
suppose  that  the  end  of  salvation  is  reached  when 
Christ  bends  over  you  saying,  "Thy  sins  be  forgiven 
thee!"  This  is  but  the  tocsin  of  strife.  It  is  the  en- 
listing, the  unfurling  of  the  flag,  the  drawing  of  the 
sword.  It  is  related  of  Hercules  that  on  the  day  of 
his  birth  he  strangled  two  serpents  that  had  been  sent 
by  Juno  to  his  cradle  to  destroy  him.  But  the  serpent 
is  our  life-long  foe.   "  There  is  no  discharge  in  this  war." 


38  THE   EVOLUTION   OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

And  the  fifth  step  is  Perfection,  or  Glorification. 

Then  a  man  is  rid  finally  and  forever  of  sin;  then 
he  puts  on  the  "fine  linen,  clean  and  white,"  crosses 
the  threshold  of  heaven  and  finds  himself  unabashed  in 
the  presence  of  a  holy  God. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  Paul,  and  observe  how  he 
illustrates  these  successive  steps  in  his  own  life  and 
experience. 

He  repeatedly  speaks  of  himself  as  "the  bond-slave 
of  sin,"  that  is,  prior  to  his  conversion.  He  says  he 
was  "a  blasphemer,  a  persecutor  and  injurious.'*  He 
held  a  commission  from  the  Sanhedrin  as  its  arch- 
inquisitor,  his  business  being  to  hunt  down  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  and  hale  them  to  judgment  and  death.  In 
this  he  was  thoroughly  honest  and  wholly  wrong;  as 
he  says,  "  I  verily  thought  within  myself  that  I  ought 
to  do  many  things  contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus." 
He  was  swept  onward  by  an  unholy  purpose  and  bound 
like  a  galley-slave  to  do  what  his  master  required  of 
him. 

Then  came  the  second  step  in  his  upward  Hfe. 

On  his  way  to  Damascus  he  heard  a  Voice  saying, 
"  I  am  Jesus  whom  thou  persecutest ! "  and  smitten  with 
sudden  blindness  he  saw  Christ  in  a  new  light.  He 
saw  the  hands  that  had  been  wounded  for  him,  stretched 
forth  to  proffer  the  ransom  that  had  been  paid  for  him. 
The  case  was  proved  beyond  controversy;  insomuch 
that  he  was  instantly  turned  right  about  face,  crying, 
"Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do.^"    He  was  no 


HOW   TO    GROW.  39 

longer  his  own  man  but  Christ's  man.  He  was  bound, 
from  that  moment,  to  believe  what  Christ  said,  to  go 
where  Christ  sent  him  and  to  do  what  Christ  required 
him  to  do.    The  love  of  Christ  constrained  him. 

The  third  step  was  Regeneration. 

This  may  have  occurred  at  the  moment  when  Christ 
appeared  to  him  on  the  Damascus  highway  or  subse- 
quently. On  the  third  day  afterward  the  Lord  said  to 
a  certain  Ananias,  "  Go  to  such  a  house  in  the  street 
which  is  called  Straight,  and  enquire  for  one  called 
Saul  of  Tarsus."  And  when  Ananias,  trembling, 
answered,  "  Lord,  I  have  heard  by  many  of  this  man, 
how  much  evil  he  hath  done  to  Thy  people!"  the 
Lord  said,  "  Go  thy  way;  Saul  is  a  new  man ;  behold,  he 
prayeth!"  By  this  we  understand  that  the  revolu- 
tionary change  had  been  wrought  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Then  came  the  Conflict. 

In  Paul's  case  it  was  singularly  fierce  and  unre- 
mitting. His  writings  are  full  of  it:  "We  wrestle" — 
"  I  see  a  law  in  my  members  warring  against  the  law  of 
my  mind;  for  what  I  would,  that  do  I  not,  and  what 
I  hate,  that  do  I" — "I  keep  my  body  under" — "So 
fight  I." 

The  parties  to  this  conflict  are  "the  old  man,  cor- 
rupt according  to  the  deceitful  lusts,"  and  "the  new 
man,  which  after  God  is  created  in  righteousness  and 
true  holiness."  The  battle  is  on  and  will  never  cease 
until  the  old  man  is  slain  and  the  new  man  is  perfected 
in  the  likeness  of  Christ.      "This  is  hard  pounding, 


40  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

gentlemen,"  as  Wellington  said  at  Waterloo.  How 
Paul  agonizes!  Hear  him  crying:  "O  wretched  man 
that  I  am!  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this 
death  ? "  The  thought  is  of  a  strangling  swimmer, 
chained  to  a  corpse.  But  he  cannot  drown.  His  deliv- 
erance is  sure.  Hear  him:  *'I  thank  God,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord!"  And  this  is  the  experience  of 
every  soul  that  has  been  in  the  thick  of  the  battle  with 
the  great  Helper  beside  him. 

The  final  step  in  the  experience  of  Paul  was  reached 
when  he  laid  his  head  upon  the  block  outside  the  walls 
of  Rome. 

In  anticipation  of  that  hour  he  had  written :  "  I  am 
now  ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure 
is  at  hand ;  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished 
my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith!  Henceforth  there 
is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown."  What  sort  of  a  crown? 
"'A  crown  of  righteousness!"  Thus  he  passed  through 
heaven's  gate,  crowned  at  last,  a  saint  of  God. 

He  was  writing  now  to  the  Christians  of  the  Ephe- 
sian  church;  and  let  us  observe  how  he  indicates  the 
same  upward  steps  in  their  experience.  He  calls  their 
attention  to  the  wicked  life  of  their  fellow  townsmen 
who  had  "given  themselves  over  to  lasciviousness,  to 
work  all  uncleanness  with  greediness."  And  he  re- 
minds them  that  they  were  once  in  like  manner  sold 
under  sin,  "walking  in  the  vanity  of  their  mind  and 
alienated  from  the  life  of  God  through  the  ignorance 
that  was  in  them." 


HOW  TO   GROW.  41 

Then  he  proceeds  to  put  them  in  remembrance  of 
what  Christ  had  done  in  their  behalf:  how  He  had  died 
to  ransom  them  from  their  former  sin  and  misery. 
The  disciples  at  Ephesus  were  constant  witnesses  of 
the  imposing  rites  and  ceremonies  and  the  magnificent 
games  in  honor  of  Diana.  Their  temptation  was  to 
conform  their  lives  to  the  idolatrous  and  pleasure- 
seeking  customs  of  their  heathen  neighbors.  It  was 
easy  then,  as  it  is  now,  to  fall  into  line  and  keep  step 
with  the  fashion.  But  the  boundary  between  the 
Christian  and  the  pagan  life  was  perfectly  clear.  There 
was  a  difference;  and  the  Christians  of  Ephesus  must 
be  admonished  to  regard  it. 

He  emphasizes  the  fact  of  their  regeneration :  "  You 
hath  He  quickened  who  were  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins;  wherein  in  time  past  ye  walked  according  to  the 
course  of  this  world,  according  to  the  prince  of  the 
power  of  the  air;  but  God,  who  is  rich  in  mercy,  for  His 
great  love  wherewith  He  loved  us,  hath  quickened  us 
together  with  Christ,  and  hath  raised  us  up  together, 
and  made  us  sit  together  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ 
Jesus."  In  evidence  of  this  stupendous  change  he 
might  have  recalled  the  bonfire  which  they  had  kindled 
in  the  streets  of  Ephesus,  when  they  had  brought  their 
magical  books  and  cabalistic  letters  and  "  burned  them 
before  all  men." 

But  the  thought  which  he  impresses  upon  them 
with  profoundest  emphasis  is  that  of  the  conflict. 
This,  indeed,  is  the  vital  point  of  his  epistle  to  the 


42  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

Ephcsians:  "Ye  are  in  the  thick  of  battle!  It  is  the 
sinful  nature  against  the  regenerate  nature.  It  is  the 
old  man  against  the  new  man.  Fight  the  good  fight! 
Lay  hold  on  eternal  life ! " 

In  the  context  he  outlines,  with  much  particularity, 
the  character  of  this  "new  man,"  reminding  them  that 
they  are  ever  to  be  "putting  off"  and  "putting  on"; 
putting  off  the  faults  of  the  old  man  and  putting  on  the 
graces  of  the  new.  The  old  man  is  represented  as 
moribund :  the  process  of  death  is  going  on  continually 
in  him.  The  new  man,  on  the  contrary,  is  growing 
more  and  more  into  the  likeness  of  Christ,  being  re- 
newed progressively  "after  the  image  of  Him  who 
created  him."  The  old  man  is  crucified  with  Christ; 
the  new  man  lives,  fives  with  ever-growing  fulness  of 
life,  and  the  life  which  he  lives  is  by  faith  in  the  Son  of 
God.  The  old  man  is  wedded  to  sin  and  shame;  the 
new  man  is  pledged  to  holiness.  The  old  man  is  a 
hoary  reprobate,  and  the  sooner  he  dies  the  better; 
the  new  man  is  destined  to  live  forever. 

At  this  point  the  Apostle  proceeds  to  indicate  the 
characteristic  features  of  this  new  man.  (1)  "Put 
away  lying,"  he  says,  "  and  speak  every  man  truth  with 
his  neighbor."  He  means.  Be  honest,  be  candid,  free 
yourself  from  every  form  of  deception,  be  transparently 
true.  Froude  says,  "I  have  heard  thousands  of  ser- 
mons and  discourses  and  homilies  on  Faith,  on  the 
Apostolic  Succession,  on  the  Eflicacy  of  the  Sacra- 
ment;  but  never  during  these  thirty  wonderful  years. 


HOW  TO   GROW.  43 

never  that  I  can  recollect,  one  on  that  primitive  com- 
mandment, *Thou  shalt  not  lie';  yet  we  have  lying  all 
around  us,  false  weights,  false  measures,  and  shoddy 
everywhere."  It  behooves  us  who  are  Christians 
wholly  to  unmask  and  show  ourselves  before  the  world 
as  honest  men. 

(2)  Paul  continues,  "Be  ye  angry  and  sin  not"; 
that  is.  Add  to  your  truth  equanimity.  Now  there  are 
two  sides  to  Christian  equanimity;  one  side  is,  Be 
angry;  and  the  other  is.  Sin  not.  It  is  a  man's  business 
to  be  angry  when  there  is  occasion  for  it.  We  must 
ever  have  a  store  of  holy  indignation  in  reserve.  Not 
long  ago  a  lad  of  eight  years,  the  son  of  a  rumseller 
who  had  whipped  him  with  a  rawhide,  ran  limping 
through  the  street  with  blood  streaming  from  his 
wounded  face  and  body.  What  sort  of  a  Christian 
man  would  he  be  whose  gorge  did  not  rise  in  view 
of  such  inhumanity.?  Be  ye  angry  at  all  vital  and 
unholy  thinjs!  Be  ye  angry  at  the  dramshop  and 
the  gambling  den,  at  oppression  and  corruption  every- 
where! But  sin  not.  Cherish  no  grudge.  Do  no 
rash  thing.  Lynch  law  is  as  bad  as  the  crime  it  punishes. 
Hate  the  sin ;  but  wish  the  sinner  well.  Be  ye  angry  as 
Christ  was;  whose  indignation  against  sin  brought 
Him  to  Calvary,  where  His  last  prayer  was,  "Father, 
forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do!" 

(3)  The  Apostle  proceeds,  "Let  him  that  stole, 
steal  no  more;  but  rather  let  him  labor  with  his  hands, 
that  he  may  give  to  him  that  needeth."    Put  off  youi 


44  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

dishonest  indolence,  he  says,  and  put  on  industry.  Be 
a  producer,  not  a  consumer  only.  Add  to  the  exchequer 
of  the  public  good.  If  you  are  a  follower  of  the  Naza- 
rene  Carpenter,  see  to  it  that,  as  becometh  the  new 
man  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness,  you 
lend  yourself  to  the  world's  advancement  by  having 
something  to  do  and  doing  it  well. 

(4)  He  goes  on  to  say,  "  Let  no  corrupt  communica- 
tion proceed  out  of  your  mouth,  but  that  which  is  good 
to  the  use  of  edifying."  It  is  sometimes  intimated 
that  Paul  and  James  were  at  odds  in  their  theology; 
but  here  certainly  they  are  at  one.  It  is  James  who 
says,  "  If  any  man  among  you  seemeth  to  be  rehgious, 
and  bridleth  not  his  tongue,  but  deceiveth  his  own 
heart,  that  man's  religion  is  vain."  The  tongue  is  an 
index  of  the  heart;  for  out  of  the  abundance  of  the 
heart  the  mouth  speaketh.  The  tongue  is  a  little  mem- 
ber, but  it  boasteth  great  things.  "Behold,  we  put 
bits  in  the  horses'  mouths  that  they  may  obey  us,  and 
we  turn  about  their  whole  body.  Behold,  also,  the 
ships,  which,  though  they  be  so  great  and  are  driven 
of  fierce  winds,  yet  are  turned  about  with  a  small  helm 
whithersoever  the  pilot  listeth.  Even  so  is  the  tongue 
among  our  members;  it  defileth  the  whole  body  and 
setteth  on  fire  the  wheel  of  nature."  On  one  occasion 
our  Lord  was  once  asked  to  heal  the  infirmity  of  one 
who  had  an  impediment  in  his  speech;  but  before  He 
acquiesced  He  **  hfted  His  eyes  to  heaven  and  sighed. " 
Why  did  He  sigh  ?    Was  it  because  He  knew  the  great 


HOW  TO   GROW.  45 

responsibility  which  He  was  about  to  place  upon  that 
man  in  restoring  his  power  of  speech  ?  In  any  case  it 
is  well  to  remember  that  wholesome  speech  is  one  of 
the  characteristics  of  the  new  man  in  Christ  Jesus. 
And  the  more  our  life  is  developed  in  Christlikeness, 
the  more  do  our  words  come  to  shine  like  apples  of  gold 
through  the  meshes  of  a  silver  basket. 

(5)  Then  Paul  adds,  "Let  all  bitterness  and  wrath 
and  anger  and  clamor  and  evil  speaking  be  put  away 
from  you,  with  all  malice:  and  be  ye  kind  to  one  an- 
other, tender-hearted,  forgiving  one  another,  even  as 
God  for  Christ's  sake  hath  forgiven  you."  It  is  related 
that  when  Charles  V  of  France  was  dying,  he  said  to 
the  heir-apparent,  "Kings  are  only  happy  when  they 
are  doing  good. "  The  same  is  true  of  all :  we  are  happi- 
est, because  most  Christlike,  when  the  law  of  kindness 
dwells  in  our  hearts  and  finds  expression  in  our  lives. 

So  Paul  describes  the  characteristics  of  the  new 
man — truth,  equanimity,  honest  industry,  wholesome 
speech  and  kindness — and  he  exhorts  the  Ephesians 
to  busy  themselves  in  "  putting  off  "  the  opposite  faults 
and  putting  on  these  graces,  that  they  may  become 
like  Christ.  For  this  is  the  ultimate,  to  be  like  Christ. 
This  is  character,  sainthood,  perfection:  I  shall  be 
satisfied  when  I  awake  in  His  likeness.  Pope  defines 
a  Christian  as  "the  highest  style  of  man."  The  new 
man  in  Christ  Jesus  is  the  best  expression  of  human 
character,  because  he  is  the  nearest  approach  to  Christ 
Himself,  the  ideal  Man. 


46  THE    EVOLtJTiON   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

In  view  of  the  foregoing,  many  of  the  criticisms 
which  are  passed  upon  the  inconsistencies  of  Chris- 
tians, lose  their  point.  We  do  not  count  ourselves  to 
have  apprehended,  as  though  we  were  already  perfect; 
but  we  are  making  a  fight  for  character.  If  our  critics 
regard  this  as  an  easy  matter,  let  them  come  in  and 
try  it. 

The  best  man  is  not  always  the  one  who  is  out- 
wardly most  presentable:  but  he  who,  surrounded 
by  his  besetting  sins,  as  by  mortal  foes,  is  fighting 
most  bravely  for  his  life.  God  loves  the  hard  strug- 
gler.  Do  not  flatter  yourself  that  because  you  find 
it  an  easy  thing  to  resist  the  approaches  of  conspicuous 
vice,  you  are,  therefore,  approved  before  God.  Remem- 
ber, He  looketh  on  the  secret  imaginations  of  the  heart. 
Let  the  other  man,  the  scarred  veteran,  who,  con- 
fronted by  old  habits  like  beasts  of  Ephesus  and  resist- 
ing unto  blood,  bears  the  wounds  of  many  a  momen- 
tary defeat,  yet  lifts  his  eyes  to  heaven  and  struggles 
on, — let  him  stand  forth  to  receive  the  guerdon  of 
spiritual  knighthood. 

But  the  important  question  for  those  who  are  dis- 
posed to  look  askance  at  imperfect  professors  is  this: 
Are  you  sure  that  you  are  in  the  battle  at  all  ?  Do  you 
realize  the  importance  of  it  ?  Are  you  putting  off  the 
old  nature  and  putting  on  the  new?  Have  you  so 
learned  Christ  as  to  esteem  character  at  its  true  value, 
as  the  only  thing  in  the  world  worth  striving  for? 
For  this  is  where  the  thing  begins,  in  "  learning  Christ." 


HOW   TO    GROW.  47 

Do  you  realize  what  He  has  done  for  you,  and  what 
He  would  have  you  do  for  Him,  and  what  He  would 
have  you  be  ?  O,  this  is  what  makes  life  worth  living, 
to  make  the  most  of  ourselves  and  do  our  utmost 
for  others  and  for  God.  This  is  sainthood;  to  grow 
toward  this  is  to  grow  into  the  likeness  of  Christ.  He 
who  puts  up  the  bravest  possible  fight  and  dies  with 
his  harness  on,  will  surely  reach  the  stature  of  a  man. 
And  God  will  give  him  the  new  name,  which  will 
appropriately  designate  the  new  man :  as  it  is  written, 
"To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  a  white  stone 
with  a  new  name  written  therein,  which  no  man  knoweth 
save  he  that  receiveth  it." 


THE  TEST  OF  PROFESSION. 

OIL   IN   THE   VESSEL. 
"And  five  were  foolish."     Matthew  25:  2. 

Why  should  these  virgins  be  called  foolish  rather  than 
the  others  ?  All  looked  alike  as  they  passed  along  the 
street  on  their  way  to  the  festal  hall.  All  had  been 
invited  to  the  wedding;  all  had  arrayed  themselves  in 
white;  all  carried  lamps,  and  the  lamps  were  all  lighted; 
and  "while  the  bridegroom  tarried  they  all  slumbered 
and  slept."  Yet  there  was  a  difference,  a  tremendously 
important  difference,  marking  the  eternal  parting  of 
their  ways.  This  is  indicated  in  the  statement  that 
"five  were  wise  and  five  were  foolish."  But  wherein 
was  the  folly  of  these  five  ?  Just  here  is  the  key  to  the 
interpretation  of  the  parable. 

The  folly  of  the  virgins  who  were  refused  admittance 
to  the  marriage,  was  not  in  the  fact  that  they  carried 
lamps.  The  lamp,  of  course,  stands  as  the  symbol  of  a 
religious  profession.  It  is  a  sad  mistake  for  any  one  to 
carry  this  lamp  who  does  not  believe  in  Christ;  but  it  is 
a  lamentable  failure  on  the  other  hand  for  any  believer 
not  to  carry  it. 

And  there  are  many  true  Christians  who  make  no 
profession  of  Christ.    They  believe  in  the  Bible  and  at- 

(48) 


THE  TEST   OP  PROFESSION.  49 

tend  church:  they  are  depending  on  Christ  for  eternal 
life.  If  you,  friend,  belong  to  that  class  of  people, 
permit  a  word  of  kindly  remonstrance. 

There  are  three  important  reasons  why  you  should 
carry  a  lighted  lamp;  to  wit: 

First. — In  justice  to  yourself  you  should  do  it. 

This  if  only  to  show  which  side  you  are  on;  for  as 
matters  now  stand,  you  are  sailing  under  false  colors. 
You  say,  "  I  make  no  profession  ";  but  pause  a  moment 
and  consider.  As  the  ten  virgins  were  passing  to  the 
bridegroom's  house  there  were,  no  doubt,  others  who 
turned  to  look.  These  had  no  lamps.  What  did  that 
mean?  In  every  case  it  meant,  "I  have  no  personal 
interest  in  this  wedding.  I  am  not  acquainted  with  the 
bridegroom  or  the  bride.  I  have  received  no  invitation 
and  therefore  have  no  part  nor  lot  in  the  affair."  In 
other  words,  the  lamps  spoke  no  more  loudly  than  the 
absence  of  them.  So,  "actions  speak  louder  than 
words."  The  fact  that  you  have  not  avowed  Christ  as 
your  Saviour  is  precisely  as  if  you  said,  *'  I  do  not  be- 
lieve in  Him";  and  it  is  so  interpreted  by  those  who 
know  you.    Do  not  you,  yourself,  think  so  ? 

If  you  really  do  not  believe  in  Christ,  then  your 
position  is  the  right  one.  In  that  case  to  make  a  pro- 
fession would  be  hypocrisy.  But  if  you  are  trusting  in 
Christ,  however  feebly,  you  are  bound  in  justice  to  your- 
self to  confess  Him.  It  is  no  excuse  to  say,  "  Xhere  are 
impostors  in  the  ranks."  Do  men  refuse  to  drink  water 
because  some  have  drowned  themselves  in  it,  or  to 


50  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

handle  good  money  because  there  are  counterfeits  in 
circulation  ?  Do  men  decline  to  vote  because  there  are 
grafters  in  all  parties,  or  to  wear  their  family  names 
because  there  is  a  black  sheep  in  the  family  ?  No,  the 
fallacy  is  evident.  Strange  that  men  should  be  so  much 
more  illogical  in  religion  than  in  other  things!  If  you 
love  Christ,  therefore,  kindle  your  lamp  and  fall  in  with 
those  who  profess  to  follow  Him. 

Second. — In  justice  to  others  you  should  do  it. 

Your  influence  is  now  counting  the  wrong  way.  To 
be  sure,  you  do  not  mean  to  exert  an  influence  against 
Christ  or  His  gospel:  but  influence  works  automati- 
cally; it  does  not  ask  to  be  exerted,  it  exerts  itself.  Your 
friends  and  neighbors,  your  business  associates,  the 
young  people  of  your  acquaintance,  see  simply  that  you 
carry  no  lamp,  and  they  say,  "  There  is  a  man  of  excel- 
lent character  who  makes  no  profession  of  religion ;  why 
should  I.''  He  is  not  a  member  of  the  church;  why 
should  I  be?  He  is  able  to  live  and  deport  himself 
properly  without  any  profession  of  Christ;  what  is  good 
enough  for  him  is  good  enough  for  me.*'  Thus  the  force 
of  your  example  is  silently  working  against  the  religion 
which  you  really  believe  all  the  while.  Nor,  in  your 
present  position,  can  you  avoid  it;  for  "no  man  liveth 
to  himself  and  no  man  dieth  to  himself."  We  cannot 
walk  without  making  footprints  in  which  others  follow 
us.  So  then,  in  the  interest  of  your  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances it  behooves  you  to  light  your  lamp. 

Third.— In  f  airnes^J;o  Christ  you  should  do  it. 


THE   TEST   OF   PROFESSION.  ^      51 

You  expect  Him  to  stand  as  your  Advocate  in  the 
judgment:  do  not  forget  what  He  said  about  those  who 
were  ashamed  Jo  acknowledge  Him  before  men.  The 
making  of  a  profession  is  not  left  to  the  personal  option 
of  those  who  believe  in  Him.  He  has  indicated  His  will 
in  these  premises ;  and  those  who  look  to  Him  for  salva- 
tion should  make  haste  to  comply  with  it.  "Do  men 
light  a  candle,"  He  said,  "and  put  it  under  a  bushel? 
Nay ;  but  on  a  candlestick  and  it  giveth  light  unto  all  that 
are  in  the  house.  Let  your  light  so  shine  before  men 
that  they  may  see  your  good  works  and  glorify  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven ! " 

But  we  return  to  our  question;  Wherein  was  the  folly 
of  the  five  virgins  who  were  not  received  at  the  bride- 
groom's house  .^  We  are  told  by  the  Master  Himself: 
"  They  that  were  foolish  took  their  lamps,  and  took  no 
oil  with  them :  but  the  wise  took  oil  in  their  vessels  with 
the  lamps."  It  is  not,  then,  the  carrying  of  the  lamp 
but  the  oil  in  the  vessel  that  marks  the  difference  between 
a  real  and  a  superficial  believer  in  Christ.  It  is  not  the 
faith  which  is  on  exhibition,  but  the  reserve  of  faith  that 
tells  the  story.  We  "judge  by  the  appearance,"  that  is, 
by  the  burning  lamp;  but  God  looketh  on  the  heart  to 
see  whether  it  is  filled  with  devotion  to  Him. 

The  foolish  virgins  here  correspond  to  the  stony- 
ground  hearers  in  the  Parable  of  the  Sower.  "And 
some  of  the  seed  fell  in  stony  places,  where  they  had  not 
much  earth;  and  forthwith  they  sprung  up  because  they 
had  no  deepness  of  earth;   and  when  the  sun  was  up. 


52  THE    EVOLUTION    OF   A   CHRISTIAN 

they  were  scorched ;  and  because  they  had  no  root,  they 
withered  away.'*  In  our  Lord's  interpretation  He  said, 
"  He  that  received  the  seed  into  stony  places  is  the  same 
that  heareth  the  word,  and  anon  with  joy  receiveth  it: 
yet  hath  he  not  root  in  himself,  but  dureth  for  a  while; 
for  when  tribulation  or  persecution  ariseth  because  of 
the  word,  by-and-by  he  is  offended."  Observe  the 
phrasing  "no  deepness  of  earth"  and  "no  root";  that 
is,  an  empty  profession  with  nothing  beneath  it.  The 
oil  carried  by  the  foolish  virgins  in  their  lamps  was  for 
temporary  use;  they  had  nothing  else,  so  that  when  the 
crucial  moment  came,  their  lights  went  out. 

Now  let  us  observe  the  bearing  of  this  on  the  religious 
life.  Religion  is  two-sided;  on  the  one  hand  it  finds  its 
expression  in  the  word  Orthodoxy ;  and  on  the  other  in 
the  word  Morality. 

The  fact  that  the  word  "  Orthodoxy  "  is  in  disrepute 
in  some  quarters  is  no  reason  why  we  should  abandon 
it.  We  are  not  going  to  turn  our  backs  on  a  word  be- 
cause some  people  have  smeared  its  face  with  phos- 
phorus and  pointed  their  fingers  at  it.  The  real  mean- 
ing of  Orthodoxy  is  "sound  doctrine,"  or  loyalty  to 
truth. 

And  there  is  a  doctrinal  side  to  Christianity.  To  say 
that  "religion  is  not  dogma,  but  life,"  is  to  express  a 
fact  in  a  most  misleading  way.  Religion  is  life  founded 
on  doctrme ;  for  "  as  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart  so  is 
he."  We  hear  a  good  deal  about  "Christian  agnosti- 
cism "  in  these  days ;  but  the  term  is  an  utter  misnomer. 


THE   TEST    OF   PROFESSION.  53 

A  Christian  and  an  agnostic  are  as  unlike  as  day  and 
night :  the  one  beheves  the  gospel,  the  other  rejects  it. 

(1)  The  Symbol  of  Orthodoxy  in  historic  Christianity 
is  the  Apostles'  Creed;  in  which  are  briefly  compre- 
hended the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  gospel  which 
have  been  accepted  from  the  beginning  by  the  universal 
Church.  It  begins  with  the  statement,  "  I  believe  in 
God."  No  agnosticism  there!  And  the  God  referred 
to  is^not  a  "Divine  Principle"  nor  an  "Unconditioned 
Absolute,"  nor  any  impersonal  thing,  but  "God,  the 
Father";  that  is,  God  as  He  has  revealed  Himself  in 
Christ,  who  taught  us  when  we  pray  to  say,  "Our 
Father,"  and  who  said  "  I  and  my  Father  are  One."  And 
the  Creed  ends  with  the  statement,  "  I  believe  in  the  life 
everlasting."  No  agnosticism  there!  And  the  ever- 
lasting life  referred  to  is  no  Nirvana,  no  exhaling  of  the 
lotus  blossom,  no  sinking  of  the  soul  like  a  drop  of  water 
in  the  sea.  It  is  life  in  the  Father's  house;  a  truth  not 
waiting  for  scientific  demonstration,  but  received  by 
faith  as  Christ  has  aflfirmed  it. 

And  in  between  "  God  the  Father  "  and  "  the  life  ever- 
lasting" are  all  the  other  essentials  of  the  Christian 
faith;  to  wit,  the  Incarnation,  the  Atonement  and  the 
Resurrection  of  Christ;  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Holy  Cath- 
olic Church,  the  Communion  of  Saints,  and  the  Forgive- 
ness of  Sins. 

(2)  The  Essence  of  Orthodoxy  is  Faith.  This  is  the 
oil  in  the  vessel.  It  is  expressed  in  the  words,  "I  be- 
lieve."   It  is  defined  on  this  wise:    "Faith  is  assurance 


54  THE    EVOLUTION   OF    A   CHRISTIAN. 

of  things  hoped  for,  a  conviction  of  things  not  seen."  It 
is  not  creduHty  nor  mere  acceptance  on  hearsay.  It  is  as- 
surance and  conviction  founded  on  the  promises  of  God. 
(  Paul  says,  "/  know  whom  I  have  beheved  and  am 
persuaded  that  He  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have 
committed  unto  Him,  against  that  day."  Here  is  faith 
founded  on  knowledge.  It  is  not  enough  to  say,  "  I  be- 
lieve"; the  man  who  so  professes  must  be  able  to  "give 
to  every  one  that  asketh  a  reason  for  the  faith  that  is 
within  him." 

Paul  says  again,  "  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings  of  this 
present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the 
glory  which  shall  be  revealed. "  Here  is  faith  founded  on 
calculation.  The  man  who  so  speaks  has  argued  the 
matter  out,  pro  and  contra,  and  has  come  to  a  definite 
conclusion.  His  faith  has  assumed  the  certainty  of  a 
quod  erat  demonstrandum;  there  is  no  longer  any  room 
for  an  if  or  a  perad venture  in  it. 

Paul  says  again,  "  I  am  persuaded  that  neither  death, 
nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor 
things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor 
depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate 
us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord."  This  persuasion  is  in  the  nature  of  a  conviction 
which  rests  on  personal  experience.  The  Apostle  had 
been  through  fire  and  water  in  his  religion  and  had 
thoroughly  tested  it. 

Now  put  the  knowledge  founded  on  reason,  the 
reckoning  founded  on  calculation  and  the  persuasion 


THE   TEST    OF    PROFESSION.  55 

founded  on  experience  all  together,  and  you  have  faith 
expressed  in  the  terms  "  I  believe  ";  and  this  faith  is  an 
apprehension  by  will,  heart  and  conscience;  that  is,  by 
the  whole  man. 

(3)  The  Touchstone  of  Orthodoxy  is  Christ.  All  the 
articles  of  our  faith,  as  briefly  expressed  in  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  center  in  Christ,  "  who  is  first,  last,  midst  and  all 
in  all."  No  man  has  a  right  to  make  a  Christian  pro- 
fession who  does  not  receive  Christ  and  receive  Him  on 
His  own  terms.  The  "  Rock "  on  which  the  Church 
is  founded  is  the  good  confession,  "Thou  art  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God."  Not  once,  but  over  and  over 
again,  did  our  Lord  proclaim  His  Divinity  and  equality 
with  God.  On  that  fact  the  Universal  Church,  however 
it  may  be  divided  otherwise,  has  been  united  from  the 
beginning  until  now.  This  is  our  family  tie :  "  I  believe 
in  Christ  the  Son  of  the  living  God. " 

The  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation  is  an 
association  of  the  representatives  of  the  various  denomi- 
nations of  Christians  who  want  to  bring  about  a  closer 
cooperation.  It  is  a  family  gathering  of  all  branches  of 
the  household  of  Christ;  that  is,  of  all  who  believe  that 
He  is  what  He  claimed  to  be.  The  Unitarians  take  um- 
brage because  they  are  not  invited  to  participate.  I,  for 
one,  am  in  favor  of  admitting  them.  For,  of  course,  they 
would  not  ask  to  be  admitted  unless  they  were  prepared 
to  claim  the  kinship  of  believers  in  a  frank  acknowledge- 
ment of  the  deity  of  Christ.  We  are  bound  to  infer  from 
their  insistence  in  this  matter,  either  that  we  have  been 


56  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

mistaken  in  supposing  that  Unitarianism  meant  a  denial 
of  the  Trinity  and  therefore  the  necessary  denial  of  the 
deity  of  Christ,  or  else  that,  having  made  war  on  that 
doctrine  hitherto,  the  Unitarians  are  now  prepared  to 
lay  down  their  arms  and  confess  that  the  central  tenet 
of  the  evangelical  church  is  correct  and  that  they  have 
been  mistaken  all  along  in  affirming  that  Jesus  is  not  the 
Divine  and  co-equal  Son  of  God.  On  any  other  under- 
standing they  could  not  logically  be  received,  nor  could 
they  with  a  good  grace  insist  on  coming  in.  Jews  and 
Buddhists  who  hold  to  certain  ethical  facts  which  are 
not  only  common  to  all  religions  but  grounded  in  the 
human  constitution,  would  not  think  of  intruding  on  a 
family  gathering  of  those  who  believe  in  Christ.  There 
would  be  no  unkindness  in  excluding  them,  nor  would 
they  be  offended  by  it.  They  would  be  de  trop  in  our 
company  and  probably  we  would  not  be  wholly  com- 
fortable to  have  them  sitting  among  us. 

The  lines  must  be  drawn  somewhere,  and  in  the 
matter  of  Christian  faith  the  line  is  thus  marked  out: 
"  Every  spirit  that  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come 
in  the  flesh,  is  of  God;  and  every  spirit  that  confesseth 
not  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh  is  not  of  God." 
The  lamp  of  Christian  confession  gives  but  an  insignifi- 
cant and  temporary  light  if  this  oil  is  not  in  the  vessel. 

The  other  side  of  our  religion  is  expressed  in  the 
word  Morality. 

Nor  must  this  word  be  spoken  against.  Christ  Him- 
self said,  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."    Here 


THE   TEST   OF   PROFESSION.  57 

we  have  the  vital  relation  of  ethics  to  doctrine.  Morality 
does  not  stand  alone  any  more  than  fruits  are  indepen- 
dent of  the  trees  that  produce  them.  Morality  is  the 
outgrowth  of  truth.  Belief  or  hy-lifian  is  **the  thing  a 
man  lives  by." 

(1)  The  Symbol  of  Morality  is  the  Decalogue. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  our  Lord  abrogated  the 
Moral  Law;  on  the  contrary  He  repeatedly  and  pro- 
foundly emphasized  it.  He  said,  "I  am  come  not  to 
destroy  the  law  but  to  fulfil  it."  He  fulfilled  the  Cere- 
monial Law  by  serving  as  its  antitype  and  thus  blotted 
it  out.  He  fulfilled  the  Moral  Law  by  personal  obedi- 
ence and  by  imposing  its  observance  with  renewed 
authority  upon  all  those  who  follow  Him.  Let  it  be  said 
reverently,  He  could  not  have  abrogated  the  Moral  Law 
as  expressed  in  the  Ten  Commandments  which  were 
written  on  tables  of  stone,  because  they  are  imbedded  in 
and  interwoven  with  the  constitution  of  man. 

(2)  The  Essence  of  Morality  is  Love;  as  it  is  written, 
"Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law."  In  Christ's  analysis 
arid  compendium  of  the  Decalogue  He  says,  "The  first 
and  great  commandment  is  this.  Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  mind  and  strength ; 
and  the  second  is  like  unto  it.  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself ;  on  these  two  commandments  hang 
all  the  law  and  the  prophets."  All  true  obedience  to 
divine  law  is  by  reason  of  love  toward  the  lawgiver. 
Nothing  is  harder  than  obedience,  so  long  as  it  is 
mechanical  and  perfunctory.     Nothing  is  easier  than 


58  THE    EVOLUTION    OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

duty,  when  duty  is  transformed  by  love  into  pleasure^ 
To  serve  as  a  slave  is  drudgery ;  to  serve  as  a  son  is  the^ 
highest  joy.  The  superficial  light  of  mere  legalism  goes 
out,  but  the  oil  of  love  in  the  vessel  lasts  forever.  He 
who  has  found  this  secret  of  morality  can  say  with 
David,  "  I  run  in  the  way  of  Thy  commandments  *';  and 
with  David's  greater  Son,  "In  the  volume  of  the  book 
it  is  w^ritten  of  me,  I  delight  to  do  Thy  will ! " 

(3)  The  Touchstone  of  Morality  is  Christ.  One  who 
has  truly  found  Christ  is  brought  into  harmony  with  the 
first  commandment,  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God,"  by  the  fact  that  Christ  has  revealed  God  as  our 
Father.  And  he  is  brought  into  harmony  with  the 
second  commandment,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor," 
by  the  fact  that  Christ  has  revealed  our  neighbor  as  our 
brother.  He  loves  his  neighbor  because  God  made  him 
and  Christ  died  for  him.  Thus,  to  a  Christian,  Christ 
is  all  in  all. 

In  the  denouement  of  the  Parable  the  fooHsh  virgins 
are  left  standing  at  the  door  knocking  and  crying, 
"Lord,  Lord,  open  unto  us!"  And  he  from  within  an- 
swers them, "  I  never  knew  you ! "  So  then  the  question 
of  a  sincere  profession  is  determined,  in  the  last  analysis, 
by  a  personal  acquaintance  with  Christ.  The  wise 
virgins  were  admitted  to  the  marriage  supper  because 
the  bridegroom  could  say,  "  I  knew  you. "  This  vital 
knowledge  of  Christ  and  oneness  with  Christ  is  the  oil 
in  the  vessel  of  religion. 

It  is  a  question  of  religion  in  the  heart.     An  artist 


THE   TEST    OF   PROFESSION.  59 

who  would  paint  a  portrait  looks  long  at  his  subject  be- 
fore he  touches  brush  to  canvas.  He  must  catch  the 
mood  of  the  sitter,  and,  before  he  paints,  must  trans- 
form him  from  an  objective  into  a  subjective  fact.  So 
we  who,  as  true  Christians,  would  imitate  Christ,  must  so 
apprehend  Him  that  our  hves  shall  be  "  hid  with  Christ 
in  God."  We  must  come  into  a  close  and  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  Him.  We  must  subject  our  very  per- 
sonalities to  that  of  Christ,  so  as  to  be  able  to  say,  "  To 
me  to  live  is  Christ ! " 

Wherefore,  look  to  your  hearts !  See  to  the  oil  in  the 
vessel  with  your  lamps.  For  out  of  the  heart  flow  the 
issues  of  life.  Be  true,  be  absolutely  sincere  and  loyal 
to  Christ. 

Lord  make  me  like  Thyself, 
Lord  make  me  be  myself. 
Seeming  as  one  who  lives  to  Thee 
And  being  what  I  seem  to  be! 


THE  TEST  OF  FAITH. 


THE  FIELD   AT  ANATHOTH. 


"The  word  of  the  lord  came  unto  me.  saying,  Behold,  Hanameel,  the 
•on  of  Shallum  thine  uncle,  shall  come  unto  thee  saying.  Buy  thee  my 
field  that  is  in  Anathoth;  for  the  right  of  redemption  is  thine  to  buy  it." 
Jeremiah    32:  6,  7. 

We  call  Jeremiah  "the  weeping  prophet."  The 
people  of  his  time  regarded  him  as  a  bird  of  ill-omen. 
He  foresaw  the  calamities  which  were  to  befall  the 
nation  and  wished  that  "his  head  were  waters  and  his 
eyes  a  fountain  of  tears"  that  he  might  adequately 
weep  for  them.  He  lived  under  five  kings,  and  suffered 
under  them  all.  It  was  in  the  time  of  the  great  reforma- 
tion in  the  reign  of  Josiah  that  he  first  struck  the  minor 
note,  perceiving  that  the  revival  of  righteousness  which 
then  occurred  was  but  as  a  summer  cloud.  He  saw 
the  next  king  Jehoahaz,  after  a  brief  reign  of  three 
months,  led  away  into  captivity  in  Egypt.  To  his 
successor,  Jehoiakim,  he  sent  an  earnest  remonstrance, 
which  was  treated  with  contempt;  the  prophet  lived 
to  see  him  murdered  and  "  buried  with  the  burial  of  an 
ass."  The  next  king,  Jehoiachin,  was  taken  to  Babylon 
in  chains  after  a  reign  of  only  three  months  and  ten 
days.  He  was  followed  by  Zedekiah,  the  last  of  the 
line  royal,  who  reigned  merely  as  a  tributary  viceroy 
of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  was  finally  driven  into  exile 
with  his  eyes  put  out. 

(60) 


THE  TEST   OF   FAITH.  61 

It  was  under  Zedekiah  that  the  city  was  finally  be- 
sieged by  the  Babylonish  army.  Its  fall  was  inevitable, 
and  Jeremiah  foreseeing  it,  wrote  from  the  court  of  his 
prison  an  earnest  call  to  repentance  in  view  of  the  im- 
pending calamity.     It  was  the  nation's  funeral  dirge. 

Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  Jeremiah  was 
wholly  a  prophet  of  evil.  While  he  was  profoundly  sen- 
sitive to  the  woes  of  his  people,  he  was  nevertheless 
above  all  his  associates,  the  prophet  of  faith.  He  fore- 
saw the  Restoration,  and  beyond  that,  the  coming  of 
Messiah, "  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  with  healing  in  His 
beams."  The  true  optimist  is  not  one  who  blinds  him- 
self to  present  evil  or  portents  of  approaching  woe,  but 
one,  who  facing  all,  believes  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of 
goodness,  because  he  believes  in  God. 

The  point  to  which  we  address  ourselves  just  now  is 
the  singular  test  which  was  applied  to  the  faith  of  Jere- 
miah in  the  matter  of  the  field  at  Anathoth.  This  field 
belonged  to  his  cousin  Hanameel,  who,  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  the  Babylonish  army  was  encamped  upon  it, 
was  prepared  to  sell  it  for  a  song.  The  Lord  bade  Jere- 
miah buy  it ;  and  he  did  so.  It  was  investing  on  a  declin- 
ing market  and  against  all  probabilities,  save  as  he  be- 
lieved in  the  Lord's  assurance,  "  Houses  and  fields  and 
vineyards  shall  be  possessed  again  in  this  land." 

We  find  here  a  suggestion  as  to  the  proving  of  faith 
in  evil  times.  The  field  of  Anathoth  stands  for  certain 
discredited  truths  in  which  the  followers  of  Christ  are 
expected  to  believe;  and  of  which  they  are  to  find  the 


62  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

ultimate  ground  of  their  assurance  in  the  Word  of  God. 

I.  The  truth  of  the  Divine  Word  itself  is  largely  dis- 
counted by  some  people  in  these  days. 

You  will  find  many  a  Hanameel,  who,  "  taken  up  in 
the  lips  of  talkers"  and  seeing  the  waving  banners  of 
Babylon  just  beyond  the  walls,  is  ready  to  dispose  of 
his  interest  in  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  for  next 
to  nothing. 

To  sound  thinkers,  however,  who  are  prepared  to 
follow  their  reasoning  to  its  logical  ends  it  is  perfectly 
clear  that  this  abandonment  means  the  giving  up  of  all 
ultimate  authority  as  to  the  truths  of  the  spiritual  life. 

The  Bible  contains  two  things:  Law  and  Gospel. 
The  foundation  of  the  Law  is  the  Ten  Commandments, 
which  have  been  universally  understood  to  be  the  ulti- 
mate symbol  of  Christian  ethics.  The  sanctions  of 
morality  are  loosened  by  the  mere  suggestion  that  the 
Decalogue  is  a  human  fabrication  and  not  a  manifesto 
from  the  divine  throne.  The  right  conception  as  to 
ethics  is  not  what  I  think,  but  what  the  Lord  says  about 
it.  In  a  letter  addressed  by  Evan  Roberts,  the  young 
evangelist  of  Wales,  to  his  American  friends,  he  closes  an 
appeal  to  Christian  loyality  with  the  words,  "Obedi- 
ence! Obedience!  Obedience!"  This  is  indeed  the 
final  test  of  faith. 

The  Gospel  is  briefly  comprehended  in  three  state- 
ments :  (1)  Men  are  by  nature  lost  in  sin ;  (2)  the  only 
begotten  Son  of  God  came  into  the  world  to  atone  for 
sin;    and  (3)  the  sole  condition  of  salvation  is  faith  in 


THE   TEST    OF   FAITH.  63 

Him  All  these  truths  are  called  in  question  by  men  who 
profess  to  believe  in  the  truth  of  Scripture.  The  old,  life- 
giving  verities  go  under  the  hammer  at  a  sacrifice ;  and 
no  man  invests  in  them  unless  he  has  a  strong  confidence 
in  God.  It  is  written,  "  By  faith  Noah,  being  warned  of 
God  of  things  not  seen  as  yet,  moved  with  fear,  prepared 
an  ark  to  the  saving  of  his  house;  by  the  which  he  con- 
demned the  world,  and  became  an  heir  of  the  righteous- 
ness which  is  by  faith. "  There  is  room  for  the  heroism 
of  Noah  in  our  time.  To  stand  true  to  the  trustworthi- 
ness of  Holy  Writ  means  that  a  man  must  "subscribe 
the  evidence  and  take  witnesses  and  weigh  out  the 
money  in  the  balances."  And  the  ground  of  this  pro- 
ceeding is  in  the  title  deed  of  his  possession,  which  reads 
on  this  wise :    "  Thus  saith  the  Lord ! " 

II.  Another  of  the  discredited  verities  is  the  Doctrine 
of  God  in  mundane  things. 

This  has  no  place  whatever  in  much  of  the  so-called 
scientific  thought.  The  only  God  who  is  worthy  of  cre- 
dence and  adoration  is  a  living,  personal,  present  God. 
The  conditions  of  the  case  are  not  answered  by  the 
supposition  of  either  a  pantheistic  or  an  absentee  God. 
He  manifests  His  intervention  in  the  affairs  of  this  world 
in  two  ways;  namely,  in  Creation  and  in  Providence. 
The  two  theories  of  origins,  theistic  and  evolutionary,  are 
diametrically  opposed  to  each  other.  The  former 
affirms  that  God  created  the  world  and  all  things  there- 
in, "  each  after  its  kind  " ;  that  is,  all  genera  were  created 
subject  to  indefinite  improvement  within  the  prescribed 


64  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

lines.  The  latter  affirms  that  all  things  are  evolved  from 
the  primordial  germ  by  the  calm  operation  of  law.  By 
"  all  things  "  is  meant  everything  in  the  organic  as  well 
as  in  the  inorganic  world;  and  this  includes  rational 
man  and  Christ  Himself.  To  speak  of  evolution  inter- 
rupted by  creative  fiats,  miracles  or  interpositions,  is 
to  use  a  phrase  which  no  scientific  evolutionist  will 
allow  for  a  moment.  To  him  the  phrase  "  theistic  evolu- 
tion "  is  as  if  one  spoke  of  a  white  black  man. 

The  other  touch  of  God  upon  our  world  is  in  His 
never-ceasing  miracle  of  Providence;  that  is,  in  His 
"upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  His  power."  This 
also  is  at  odds  with  evolution  as  pure  evolutionists  hold 
it.  The  question  is  solved  for  the  followers  of  Christ  by 
His  own  statement  as  to  the  lilies  of  the  field.  "  Consider 
them,"  He  says,  "how  they  grow."  Well,  how  do  they 
grow.^  The  evolutionist  says  that  they  develop  auto- 
matically by  the  operation  of  certain  laws.  Christ  says, 
"God  clothes  them."  His  language  is  perfectly  clear: 
"  They  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin ;  and  yet  I  say  unto 
you  that  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like 
one  of  these  ":  from  which  He  concludes  that  God  is  all 
the  while  "much  more"  interposing  in  behalf  of  His 
people.  "  If  He  so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field,  which 
to-day  is,  and  to-morrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall  He 
not  much  more  clothe  you,  O  ye  of  little  faith  ?  "  Hence 
the  possibility  of  perfect  rest  in  God :  "  Be  not  therefore 
anxious  saying.  What  we  shall  eat,  or,  What  we  shall 
drink,  or,  Wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed;   for  your 


THE   TEST   OF   FAITH.  65 

heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these 
things.  But  seek  ye  first  His  kingdom  and  His  right- 
eousness; and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you." 
If  there  is  any  significance  in  these  words  of  Jesus,  they 
mean  that  God,  so  far  from  leaving  things  to  look  after 
themselves,  is  ever  consciously  upholding  and  sustaining 
them,  and  that  He  is  perpetually  interposing  by  His  wis- 
dom and  power  in  behalf  of  those  who  love  Him. 

But  this  is  directly  contrary  to  the  drift  of  current 
thought,  which  rules  out  the  supernatural  and  declines 
to  allow  God  to  have  any  part  in  the  inevitable  flow  of 
events.  It  takes  more  courage  to-day  to  believe  in  God, 
as  He  has  thus  revealed  Himself,  than  ever  before  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear 
preachers  speak  of  God  in  such  phrases  that  it  would 
require  a  protracted  argument,  with  the  aid  of  profes- 
sional counsel,  to  determine  whether  they  are  talking 
about  a  person  or  a  vague  impersonal  force.  Is  it  not 
clear  that,  under  such  circumstances,  it  behooves 
those  who  care  for  the  maintenance  of  their  devout 
loyalty,  to  be  on  their  guard  lest  they  be  wholly  swept 
away  from  the  moorings  of  faith  ?  At  such  a  time  the 
believer  must  be  ready  to  invest  in  the  discredited  truth 
and  to  write  out  his  title  deed  on  this  wise :  "  In  the  be- 
ginning, God." 

III.  The  same  is  true  with  reference  to  the  Doctrine 
oj  Christ. 

This  is  not  to  say  that  the  air  is  not  vibrant  with 
fulsome  adulations  of  Christ.     But  what  Christ?    Are 


66  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A   CHRISTIAN. 

we  to  be  satisfied  with  a  Christ  whose  power  is  as 
nominal  as  that  of  the  Czar,  who,  while  called  an  auto- 
crat, is  a  mere  lay  figure  in  the  hand  of  his  Grand 
Dukes  ?  The  only  Christ  who  is  of  any  consequence  to 
mortal  men  is  the  Christ  whose  name  is  historically 
associated  with  three  stupendous  miracles. 

One  of  these  is  the  Incarnation,  of  which  we  are  wont 
to  say,  "  I  believe  in  God's  Only  begotten  Son;  who  was 
conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost  and  born  of  the  Virgin 
Mary."  Some  men  dissipate  this  doctrine  in  the  very 
breath  in  which  they  assert  it;  as  witness  the  recent 
statement  made  by  a  prominent  clergyman :  *'  What  dif- 
ference does  it  make  in  the  practical  application  of  Chris- 
tianity whether  Christ  was  the  son  of  Joseph  or  not  ? " 

The  second  of  these  great  miracles  is  the  Atonement. 
And  this,  also,  is  denied  by  such  as  declare  that  He  died 
not  vicariously  but  simply  as  all  martyrs  die.  "He 
came  into  the  world, "  they  say,  "  to  rectify  a  wrong 
condition  of  affairs  and  suffered  the  fate  of  all  reformers. 
He  gathered  into  His  devoted  bosom  the  shafts  of  the 
adversary  and  fell.*'  How  far  this  is  from  His  own 
view  of  His  atoning  death  is  witnessed  by  His  words, 
"  I  have  power  to  lay  down  my  life  and  I  have  power  to 
take  it  again.  No  man  taketh  it  from  me."  And 
again,  "The  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
the  lost,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many."  This 
is  the  consistent  view  of  the  Scriptures  in  such  oft- 
repeated  statements  as  this;  "The  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  His  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." 


THE   TEST    OF   FAITH.  67 

The  third  miracle  of  Christ  is  His  Resurrection  from 
the  Dead,  in  which  Hfe  and  immortahty  are  brought  to 
Hght.  This,  also,  is  treated  in  some  quasi-evangelical 
quarters  as  a  mere  legend,  concocted  by  the  disappointed 
followers  of  Christ  to  cover  their  discomfiture  after  His 
shameful  death.  In  this  manner  the  very  ground  on 
which  the  citadel  of  our  religion  was  intended  to  rest  is 
thrown  into  the  market  as  a  valueless  possession.  And 
the  true  Christian  must  ever  show  his  loyalty  by  making 
the  purchase.  Let  him  buy  the  field  of  Anathoth  in  full 
confidence  that  God's  purposes  cannot  be  thwarted;  and 
let  him  unhesitatingly  record  his  title  deed  as  to  Chris- 
tianity in  the  familiar  words,  "  God  so  loved  the  world 
that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  Him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life. " 

IV.  The  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  also  discredited 
by  many  in  these  days. 

A  recent  writer  in  endeavoring  to  account  for  the 
Welsh  revival,  advances  this  hypothesis ;  "  It  appears 
to  be  due  to  a  subtle  aura  w^hich,  striking  the  gastric 
plexus,  creates  an  epidemic."  This  is  very  like  what 
the  onlookers  said  at  Pentecost:  "These  men  are  full 
of  new  wine."  The  words  of  Peter  on  that  occasion  are 
worthy  of  note:  "Ye  men  of  Judea,  these  are  not 
drunken  as  ye  suppose;  but  this  is  that  which  was 
spoken  of  by  th^  prophet  Joel:  It  shall  come  to  pass 
in  the  last  days,  saith  God,  I  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit 
upon  all  flesh ;  and  whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name 
of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved." 


68  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

The  functions  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  three  in  particu- 
lar: First,  to  reveal  truth.  If  spiritual  things  are  to  be 
arrived  at  by  the  scientific  method  and  not  "spiritually 
discerned,"  then  this  prerogative  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
ruled  out. 

His  second  function  is  exercised  in  regeneration.  This 
is  more  than  reformation  or  "turning  over  a  new  leaf." 
It  is  a  revolutionary  change  in  the  soul,  brought  about 
by  coming  into  touch  with  the  divine  life,  as  Jesus  said, 
"Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  Except  a  man  be  born 
again  (or  from  above)  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God." 

The  third  function  of  the  Spirit  is  manifest  in  sanctifi- 
cation.  This  is  more  than  the  process  called  "ethical 
culture."  The  difference  is  that  between  the  putting  up 
of  a  building  and  the  growing  of  a  tree.  To  lay  one  good 
resolution  on  another  in  the  making  of  character  is 
simply  the  putting  together  of  an  inorganic  thing;  but 
to  yield  to  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  is  to  "  grow  in  grace 
and  in  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ,"  as  a  living  thing 
develops  by  virtue  of  the  life  within  it. 

A  sure  confidence  in  these  things  is  involved  in  loyalty 
to  Christ.  To  surrender  them  in  deference  to  public 
opinion  is  the  part  of  Hanameel;  to  hold  them  fast  is  to 
imitate  the  faith  of  Jeremiah,  to  whom  the  minatory 
shouts  of  the  Babylonish  host  were  as  naught  in  com- 
parison with  the  sureness  of  the  divine  word.  And  here 
again  is  the  phasing  of  our  title  deed :  "  The  Spirit  of 
truth  shall  abide  with  you,  whom  the  world  cannot 


THE   TEST   OF   FAITH.  69 

receive  because  it  seeth  Him  not,  neither  knoweth  Him ; 
but  ye  know  Him  and  He  dwelleth  in  you." 

V.  It  remains  to  speak  of  the  Ultimate  Triumph  of 
Christ. 

To  deny  the  truth  of  progress  would  be  to  set  our- 
selves against  the  hearing  of  our  ears  and  the  sight  of 
our  eyes.  All  believe  that  the  world  rolls  round  in  its 
orbit  and  that  men  and  nations  are  being  brought  with- 
in the  charmed  circle  of  civilization.  But  this  does  not 
mean  that  there  is  a  general  agreement  as  to  the  coming 
of  Christ.  The  Christian's  view  of  progress  is  that  all 
things  are  moving  forward  to  one  great  ultimate  event, 
namely,  the  universal  sovereignty  of  Jesus  in  the  Golden 
Age. 

We  believe  that  there  are  two  manifest  tokens  of  this 
approaching  reign.  The  first  is  in  Revivals;  which  are 
intermittent  signs  of  the  present  power  of  God.  Pente- 
cost repeats  itself.  There  is  no  " new  evangelism."  The 
power  that  wrought  in  the  great  revival  at  the  water- 
gate  in  the  time  of  Nehemiah  is  the  same  power  that  was 
apparent  at  Pentecost  and  in  every  revival  since  that 
day.  The  words  of  Peter  at  Pentecost,  *'  This  is  that,'^ 
are  applicable  to  the  wonderful  things  that  are  occurring 
in  Wales  and  elsewhere.  This  is  no  new  thing,  it  is  "  that 
which  was  spoken  of  by  the  prophet  Joel."  These  are 
the  great  catastrophic  movements  of  history;  they  are  like 
tidal  waves  which  roll  over  the  people  and  sweep  hun- 
dreds into  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  other  manifestation  of  Christian  progress  is  in 


70  THE    EVOLUTION   OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

Missions.  This  is  a  constant  cumulative  movement  des- 
tined to  eventuate  in  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  Its  objective  point  is  always  the  conversion  of 
souls.  The  building  of  schools  and  hospitals  is  a  mere 
incident  along  the  way.  The  true  missionary  spirit  is 
that  of  the  itinerant  evangelist,  going  about  like  Paul 
among  the  villages  of  Asia  Minor  and  Macedonia,  or 
like  Jacob  Chamberlain  among  the  villages  of  India, 
preaching,  "  This  Jesus  is  the  Christ ;  and  He  has  power 
on  earth  to  forgive  sin." 

Now,  both  these  manifestations  of  religious  progress 
are  at  a  discount  among  many.  They  lift  their  eye- 
brows at  revivals  and  shrug  their  shoulders  at  missions. 
But  a  true  follower  of  Christ  who  has  caught  His  spirit 
and  takes  Him  at  His  word  is  ever  ready  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  advancement  of  His  cause,  believing  with  all 
his  heart  that  His  glory  is  destined  to  cover  the  earth  as 
the  waters  cover  the  sea. 

The  question  comes  home  to  us  on  this  wise :  Are  we 
prepared  to  demonstrate  our  faith  in  our  religion  by  in- 
vesting our  time,  substance  and  energy  in  these  dis- 
credited things  ?  The  opportunity  for  faith's  purchase  is 
on  a  falling  market.  When  the  confidence  of  Hanameel 
is  at  its  low^est,  the  confidence  of  Jeremiah  rests  more 
securely  than  ever  in  the  divine  promise.  The  title  deed 
of  the  kingdom  is  ours  if  we  will :  and  our  interest  in  the 
Lord's  business  is  measured  by  what  we  put  into  it. 
"Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse  and  prove 
me  now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not 


THE   TEST    OF   FAITH.  71 

open  you  the  windows  of  heaven  and  pour  you  out  a 
blessing  that  there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive 
it." 


THE  TEST  OF  PRACTICE. 

STACTE,    ONYCHA   AND   GALBANUM. 

*'The  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Take  unto  thee  sweet  spices,  stacte  and 
onycha  and  galbanum,  these  sweet  spices,  with  pure  frankincense;  of 
each  shall  there  be  a  like  weight;  and  thou  shalt  make  it  a  perfume,  a  con- 
fection after  the  art  of  the  apothecary,  tempered  together,  pure  and  holy." 
Exodus   30:34,35. 

The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  reports  that  our  people 
spend  about  one  billion,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
million  of  dollars  annually  for  adulterated  foods.  We 
should  expect  that  bread-stuffs  at  least  be  pure;  but  an 
examination  of  gluten  flours  on  the  market  shows  that 
only  two  out  of  thirteen  samples  are  so.  Of  preserved 
meats  not  less  than  ninety  per  cent,  prove  to  be  more  or 
less  corrupted  by  the  use  of  boracic  acid  or  other  preser- 
vatives. In  like  manner,  vegetables  are  bleached  with 
sulphites  or  highly  colored  with  copper  and  aluminum 
salts.  Of  cocoas  and  chocolates  seventy  per  cent,  show 
ten  to  ninety  per  cent,  of  foreign  matter.  We  have  honey 
with  which  the  bees  never  made  acquaintance,  and  cider 
that  never  saw  an  orchard ;  strawberry  jam  compounded 
of  glucose  and  timothy  seed;  and  nutmegs  put  upon  the 
market  after  the  oil  has  been  extracted  from  them. 
More  Vermont  maple-sugar  is  sold  every  twelve-month 
than  Vermont  produces  in  ten  years.  And  there  is  a 
corresponding  corruption  of  medicines.     Many  of  the 

(72) 


THE   TEST    OF    PRACTICE.  73 

most  popular  "  remedies  "  are  simply  liquors  neither  dis- 
tilled nor  fermented,  but  formulated  in  the  chemist's 
laboratory.  In  one  of  the  New  Orleans  hospitals  it  was 
recently  discovered  that  a  prevalent  epidemic  of  blind- 
ness was  due  largely  to  the  popular  use  of  antiseptics 
made  of  wood  alcohol;  and  an  analysis  of  samples  of 
phenacetine  showed  only  sixteen  per  cent,  to  be  safely 
pure.  It  is  not  strange  that,  under  such  circumstances, 
there  should  be  a  popular  clamor  for  the  enactment  of  a 
pure-food  law. 

The  Mosaic  Code  furnishes  in  large  measure  the  basis 
of  current  legislation  and  jurisprudence;  but  it  is  of  little 
avail  at  this  particular  point,  for  an  obvious  reason. 
The  Jews  were  an  agricultural  people,  getting  their  food 
at  first  hand.  The  farmer  reaped  his  own  wheat  and 
lentils,  plucked  fruit  and  olives  from  his  own  orchards 
and  furnished  his  trencher  from  his  own  flocks.  In  our 
text,  however,  there  is  a  distinct  reference  to  an  anti- 
adulteration  law  in  the  matter  of  oil  and  incense  used  in 
the  sanctuary  services.  These  were  prepared  by  an 
official  apothecary,  for  whom  one  of  the  fifteen  rooms 
in  the  temple  was  afterwards  set  apart  as  a  laboratory. 
He  was  called  Rochekij,  the  "perfumer"  or  "apothe- 
cary." The  formula  for  the  preparation  of  the  oil  used 
in  the  anointing  of  kings  and  priests,  and  of  the  incense 
burned  on  the  golden  altar,  was  given  with  much  par- 
ticularity; and  its  importance  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  the  penalty  for  counterfeiting  was  to  be  "cut 
off  from  among  His  people." 


74  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

As  we  believe  in  a  gospel  which  applies  to  human  life 
at  every  point,  it  would  not  be  unprofitable  to  devote  an 
entire  sermon  to  the  sin  of  adulterating  foods;  but  our 
present  purpose  is  larger  than  that.  Christ  came  to  save 
the  whole  man,  body  and  soul ;  but  since  the  soul  is  more 
important  than  the  body  by  as  much  as  eternity  is  longer 
than  time,  we  are  mostly  deeply  concerned  in  the  consid- 
eration of  not  physical,  but  spiritual  problems.  The  oil 
and  the  incense  may  properly  be  regarded  as  symbolical 
of  truth  and  morals;  the  two  supreme  questions  of 
human  life  being,  "  What  shall  I  believe  ?  "  and  "  How 
shall  I  live  ?  "  In  the  definition  of  religion  given  by  the 
Apostle  James,  the  emphasis  is  placed  just  here;  he 
says,  *'  Pure  and  undefiled  religion  before  God  and  the 
Father  is  this:  To  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in 
their  affliction,  and  to  keep  one's  self  unspotted  from  the 
world. "  In  order  to  keep  one's  self  "  unspotted  from  the 
world,"  it  is  necessary  that  a  man  should  first  bathe  in 
the  fountain  filled  with  blood  and  thenceforth  live  on  the 
margin  of  it.  And  "to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows 
in  their  affliction,"  is  but  a  specific  way  of  setting  forth 
the  importance  of  doing  good  as  we  have  opportunity 
unto  all  men.  The  religion  thus  defined  is  to  be  kept 
"  pure  and  undefiled,  before  God."  To  counterfeit  is  to 
be  "cut  off  from  among  His  people."  If  Nadab  and 
Abihu  were  destroyed  for  offering  strange  fire  in  their 
censers,  how  much  more  shall  he  be  condemned  who 
presumes  to  trifle  with  the  formularies  of  truth  and 
morals  as  given  in  the  Word  of  God. 


THE   TEST    OF   PRACTICE.  75 

And  this  is  the  prevalent  sin  of  our  time.  An  article 
by  Senator  McCumber,  on  the  adulteration  of  foods 
begins  thus:  "We  are  living  in  an  artificial  age."  If 
this  be  true  with  respect  to  material  things,  it  is  much 
more  so  in  the  religious  province.  It  is  jhe  fashion  to 
follow  opinion  rather  than  the  divine  prescript  in  the  for- 
mulation of  both  creeds  and  moral  codes. 

I.  Take,  for  example,  the  doctrine  of  Gody  which  is  the 
underlying  fact  in  religion. 

The  teaching  of  the  Scriptures  at  this  point  is  perfectly 
clear.  God  is  set  forth,  on  one  hand,  as  the  First  Cause 
or  Creator  of  all;  as  it  is  written,  "  In  the  beginning  God 
created."  And  the  things  which  He  created  were  "  each 
after  his  kind." 

Just  here  physical  science  enters,  presenting  a  series 
of  indubitable  facts  followed  by  a  procession  of  gratui- 
tous inferences  terminating  in  a  hypothesis  called 
Evolution.  In  evolution  properly  so  called,  which  is 
distinctly  materialistic,  there  is  no  room  for  any  divine 
interposition.  If  one  is  moved  to  ask,  as  Napoleon 
did  of  La  Place,  "  What  becomes  of  God  in  your  philos- 
ophy .^ "  the  answer  is,  "  We  have  no  need  of  God."  If 
He  is  needed  at  all  it  is  only  as  Deus  ex  machina,  and 
then  only  so  far  forth  as  may  be  necessary  in  order  to 
account  for  the  primordial  germ.  The  germ  thus  pro- 
duced is  spun  out  into  space  and  left  to  develop  itself 
through  star-dust  and  chaos  into  the  present  order. 
President  Lincoln  once  said  to  an  importunate  office- 
seeker,  "I  assure  you  I  have  very  little  influence  with 


76  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

this  administration. "  In  like  manner  it  may  be  said  that 
if  there  be  any  God  in  the  philosophy  of  evolution  He 
has  very  little  to  do  with  the  process.  He  is  simply  an 
absentee  God. 

And  God  is  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures,  also,  as  a 
Father. 

He  has  a  father's  love  toward  all  His  children;  eyes 
to  see  their  distresses,  ears  to  hear  their  complaints  and 
an  omnipotent  arm  to  help.  When  we  speak  of  Him  as 
the  Hearer  and  Answerer  of  prayer,  we  mean  that  He 
can  turn  aside,  if  necessary,  the  common  order  of  nature 
in  order  to  succor  and  save  those  who  call  upon  Him. 
To  say  that  the  universe  is  so  framed  as  to  make  a 
miracle  impossible  (and  every  answer  to  prayer  is  a 
miracle)  is  simply  to  affirm  that  God  created  a  machine 
only  to  imprison  Himself  in  it;  or,  in  other  words,  that 
the  law  is  above  the  law-giver.  To  those  who  hold  such 
a  philosophy,  there  can  be  no  Providence  and  no  ration- 
ale of  prayer.  Sir  John  Franklin,  on  his  first  polar 
expedition,  was  greatly  moved  by  the  apparent  indiffer- 
ence of  the  Equimaux  to  religion.  To  his  question,"  Do 
you  not  believe  in  God  ?  "  they  answered,  "  We  do  not 
know  whether  there  is  a  God  or  not;  but  we  are  so  cold 
and  dreary  in  this  country,  that,  if  there  be  any  God,  we 
are  sure  He  is  afar  off  and  has  forgotten  us."  To  such 
a  conclusion  must  all  arrive  who,  in  lieu  of  revelation, 
or  by  trifling  with  it,  have  framed  a  theology  of  their 
own. 

And  what  is  the  result?    Pure  and  simple  idolatry. 


THE   TEST    OF   PRACTICE.  77 

The  only  true  God  is  the  God  who  has  revealed  Himself 
in  His  inspired  word.  A  god  created  by  human  fancy 
or  imagination  is  as  really  an  idol  as  a  brazen  Buddha 
or  the  mud  fetish  in  an  African  kraal.  To  worship  Law 
or  Energy  or  an  indefinite  "  Something  that  Maketh  for 
Righteousness,"  or  anything  else  except  the  paternal 
Creator  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures,  is  only  a  more  refined 
sort  of  paganism. 

And  what  is  the  remedy?  It  is  to  return  to  the 
authoritative  prescript.  To  the  law  and  the  testimony ! 
Jesus  said  to  the  young  ruler  who  desired  to  know  the 
way  of  eternal  life,  "What  readest  thou.'^"  probably 
pointing  to  the  shema  or  frontlet  worn  between  his  eyes, , 
on  which  was  written :  "  Hear,  O  Israel !  The  Lord  thy 
God  is  one  Lord :  and  thou  shall  love  the  Lord  thy 
God. "  Let  us  renounce  our  idols !  The  only  God  in  the 
universe  who  is  worthy  of  worship  is  He  who  said,  "  I 
am  the  Lord  thy  God  which  have  brought  thee  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage;  thou 
shall  have  no  other  gods  before  Me ! " 

II.    Or,  take  the  Moral  Law. 

Here  again  we  observe  a  current  fashion  of  dilution 
and  adulteration.  The  formulary  of  the  Scriptures  is 
plain.  The  Law  is  given  in  two  great  historic  symbols; 
to  wit,  the  Decalogue  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
which  is  Christ's  exposition  of  the  ancient  law.  We 
profess  to  accept  the  Bible  as  our  "  infallible  rule  of  faith 
and  practice."  The  doctrine  of  God  as  given  therein  is 
the  basis  of  theology,  as  our  infallible  rule  of  truth;  and 


78  THE   EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHRISTIAN. 

the  Ten  Commandments  as  the  basis  of  ethics  are  our 
infalHble  rule  of  conduct. 
/^  But  great  liberties  are  taken  with  the  Moral  Law. 
It  is  affirmed  in  some  quarters  that  the  Decalogue  was 
not  delivered  amid  the  thunders  of  Sinai  or  written  on 
tables  of  stone ;  but  was  merely  a  collection  of  precepts 
arranged  in  an  arbitrary  manner  by  common  men  in  the 
process  of  the  ages.  And  as  to  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  we  are  informed  that  we  cannot  be  at  all  sure 
that  Jesus  ever  uttered  it.  This  being  so,  it  follows  of 
course  that  there  is  no  singular  authority  attaching  to 
the  Moral  Law. 

Law  itself  is  reduced  to  a  mere  convention.  And  sin  is 
not "  any  want  of  conformity  unto  or  transgression  of  the 
divine  law,"  but  merely  a  disease,  which  shows  itself  in 
kleptomania,  or  dipsomania,  or  other  forms  of  "  mania," 
which  call  not  for  moral  therapeutics,  but  for  treatment 
by  materia  medica.  And  repentance  is  simply  a  sort  of 
melanchoHa.  When  David,  having  come  to  himself  in 
the  matter  of  Bathsheba,  climbed  the  winding  stairs  to 
his  closet  on  the  housetop,  wringing  his  hands  and  cry- 
ing, "Have  mercy  upon  me,0  God.  according  unto  Thy 
loving  kindness,  and  according  unto  the  multitude  of  Thy 
tender  mercies  blot  out  my  transgressions;  for  I  have 
sinned  against  Thee ! "  he  was  merely  suffering  from 
nightmare.  The  same  is  true  of  the  publican  who 
prayed,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner ! "  And  of  Paul 
in  his  despairing  cry,  "O  wretched  man  that  I  am!" 
Such  is  the  inevitable  consequence  of  trifling  with  the 


THE   TEST   OF   PRACTICE.  79 

authority  of  the  Moral  Law.  The  process  is  that  which 
was  suggested  to  Pericles  who,  having  refused  to  enter 
into  a  negotiation  which  involved  a  violation  of  one  of 
the  popular  tablets,  was  urged  to  evade  its  authority  by 
turning  its  face  to  the  wall. 

What  is  the  result  ^  In  every  quarter  where  the  Law 
is  thus  tampered  with,  you  will  find  an  awful  deteriora- 
tion of  morals.  One  by  one  the  Commandments  go: 
the  first,  the  second,  the  third  ("Who  fears  God,"  asked 
Dr.  Dale,  "  in  these  days  "  ?) ;  the  fourth  (Else  why  the 
common  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  ?) ;  the  fifth  (Is  not 
filial  reverence  out  of  fashion.^);  the  sixth  (Were  ever 
homicide  and  suicide  more  prevalent.?  Was  ever  life 
cheaper  than  now?);  the  seventh  (Weep  for  the  lost 
sanctity  of  the  marriage  tie !) ;  the  eighth  (Farewell  the 
stringent  lines  and  boundaries  of  common  honesty!); 
the  ninth  (Welcome  duplicity!)  and  the  tenth;  since, 
when  the  twin  motives  of  love  and  fear  toward  God  are 
obliterated,  a  man  can  afford  to  forget  magnanimity 
and  live  for  himself  alone. 

And  what  is  the  remedy  ?  A  return  to  the  prescript 
of  the  Law.  Blackstone's  definition  of  law  is,  "A  rule 
of  action."  As  gravitation  is  a  rule  of  action  in  nature, 
so  is  the  Moral  Law  in  human  life.  And  this  law  is  not 
a  convention,  arrived  at  by  a  conference  of  its  subjects, 
but  an  edict  of  the  Law-giver.  To  trifle  with  the  formu- 
lary is  to  endanger  character.  Rowland  Hill  was  right 
when,  a  visitor  having  remarked  that  he  did  not  recog- 
nize the  binding  character  of  the  Decalogue,  he  called 


80  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

his  butler  jind  said,  "  Show  this  man  the  door  and  watch 
the  silver  until  he  has  gone  out !  ** 

III.    Or,  finally,  take  the  Gospel. 

Now  the  Gospel  is  a  very  simple  thing.  It  is  all  briefly 
comprehended  in  the  words :  "  God  so  loved  the  world 
that  He  gave  His  only-begotten  Son  that  whosoever 
beheveth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal 
life."  But  this  Gospel  is  so  tampered  with  in  some 
places  that  its  features  are  unrecognizable.  The  three 
fundamental  facts  on  which  it  rests  are  the  Incarnation, 
the  Atonement  and  the  Resurrection  of  Christ.  And 
these  three  are  not  denied.  O,  never  denied !  But  they 
are  all  explained  away.  How  are  we  to  understand  the 
words  recently  uttered  by  the  pastor  of  one  of  our  evan- 
gelical churches :  "  It  in  no  wise  affects  the  real  power 
of  Christianity  whether  we  believe  in  the  doctrine  of 
the  virgin-birth  of  Jesus  or  not  ? "  Or  how  are  we  to 
interpret  the  statement:  "The  saving  power  of  the 
Gospel  is  not  in  the  death,  but  in  the  life  and  example 
of  Christ  ?  "  Or  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  intimation 
that  it  is  immaterial  whether  His  resurrection  be  a  fable 
or  an  historic  fact  ? 

Thexesult  of  such  trifling  with  the  landmarks  of  faith 
is  spiritual  atrophy.  In  a  congregation  where  the 
Gospel  is  thus  dispensed  with,  you  will  find  no  revivals ; 
much  talking  about  a  "new  evangelism,"  perhaps,  but 
no  real  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  and  no  ingathering  of 
souls.  Of  course,  there  are  no  conversions.  Con- 
versions from  what,  or  to  what.?      And  in  the  same 


THE   TEST   OF   PRACTICE.  81 

quarter  you  will  hear  lamentations  over  the  dearth  of 
ministerial  candidates.  For  why  should  young  men 
offer  themselves  to  a  ministry  that  has  nothing  to  preach 
but  "  ifs  "  and  "  perhapses."  The  only  temple  of  divine 
service  which  any  man  can  afford  to  enter,  is  that  which 
is  supported  by  the  two  pillars,  Jachin  and  Boaz,  the 
pillars  of  authority,  "  I  am  strength,"  and  "  I  will  sustain 
thee." 

What  is  the  remedy  for  such  a  condition  of  things  ? 
It  is  to  get  back  to  the  preaching  of  Christ.  He  set  forth 
an  exclusive  Gospel.  Let  the  exclusiveness  of  His 
Gospel  never  be  lost  sight  of.  He  drew  certain  lines  hard 
and  fast;  let  no  man  obliterate  them. 

/  He  drew  a  line  between  Himself  and  all  other 
teachers.  He  never  consented  to  be  a  mere  "  good  rab- 
bi." He  acknowledged  no  peers.  If  He  meant  what  He 
said,  "No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me," 
then  Plato  and  Epictetus  and  Marcus  Aurelius  and  like 
philosophers  are  never  to  be  mentioned  in  the  same 
breath  with  Him. 

^  He  drew  a  line  between  Christianity  and  all  other 
religions.  Not  that  there  is  no  good  in  other  religions, 
but  that  only  one  has  the  saving  power.  "  There  is  none 
other  name  given  under  heaven  or  among  men  whereby 
ye  must  be  saved. " 

/7,  He  drew  a  line  between  the  Bible  and  all  other  books. 
In  all  His  teaching  He  consistently  referred  to  it,  not  as 
one  of  the  masterpieces  of  literature,  but  as  absolute  truth 
and  the  Word  of  God.    He  prescribed  it  as  our  one,  only 


82  THE    EVOLUTION   OP   A   CHRISTIAN. 

and  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  saying,  "  Search 
the  Scriptures;  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life, 
and  these  are  they  which  testify  of  me." 
i>  He  drew  a  line  between  His  Church  and  all  other 
organizations  that  ever  were  framed,  saying,  "On  this 
rock  (that  is,  the  affirmation  of  His  divinity  in  the  words, 
*  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Living  God !')  I  will 
build  my  church ;  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it!" 

He  drew  a  line  between  His  followers  and  all  others, 
saying,  "He  that  believeth  in  the  Son  hath  everlasting 
life ;  and  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  Hf e, 
but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."  In  other  words, 
those  who  accept  Christ  as  their  Saviour  are  saved,  and 
all  others  are  lost.  The  question  is  not  whether  we  like 
this  statement  or  not,  but  whether  Christ  made  it.  If 
so,  as  Christians  we  are  bound  to  receive  it. 

When  it  is  intimated  that  truth  and  morals  are  being 
corrupted  in  many  quarters,  this  is  not  to  say  that  the 
world  is  going  wrong.  In  the  last  century  the  number 
of  those  who  profess  to  be  in  some  sort  of  relation  with 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  has  increased  from  two  hundred 
millions  to  five  hundred;  from  which  it  is  obvious  that 
a  margin  for  large  numbers  of  unbelievers  in  the  Church 
may  be  allowed  and  still  leave  room  for  confidence  that 
the  hands  move  forward  on  the  dial.  It  is  important  to 
say,  however,  that  while  the  great  multitude  of  believers 
have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal,  there  is  undeniably 
much  of  error  and  falsehood  propagated  in  the  Christian 


THE  TEST   OF   PRACTICE.  8S 

name.  The  wheat  and  tares  must  needs  grow  together 
in  God*s  field  until  the  harvest.  The  church  is  in  no 
danger,  but  there  is  imminent  danger  that  many  will 
lose  their  moorings  and  drift  away  into  doubt  and  un- 
belief. So  let  us  unceasingly  emphasize  the  importance 
of  loyalty  to  the  oracles  of  God. 

To  be  thus  loyal,  however,  is  to  confront  the  charge 
of  bigotry;  for  it  is  a  singular  fact,  that  in  these  days, 
"  liberaUsm  "  is  synonymous  with  a  denial  of  the  Script- 
ures. But  can  a  man  who  sincerely  calls  himself  a 
Christian  be  more  liberal  than  Christ .?  Or  can  there  be 
a  broader  liberalism  than  that  which  announces  the  free 
grace  of  God  ?  It  is  possible  for  all  men  to  accept  His 
overtures  of  mercy;  "The  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say. 
Come;  and  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life 
freely."  The  King's  highway  runs  across  an  open 
country,  between  the  two  hedges  of  Law  and  Gospel, 
to  heaven's  gate;  and  that  gate  is  open  wide  enough  to 
admit  all  who  believe  in  Christ.  Over  it  you  may  read 
this  legend :  "  There  shall  in  no  wise  enter  anything  that 
worketh  abomination  or  maketh  a  lie;  but  they  which 
are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  Life. "  This  is  the  old, 
plain,  only,  scriptural  way  of  salvation;  "the  way  the 
holy  prophets  went,  the  way  that  leads  from  banish- 
ment, the  King's  highway  of  holiness."  This  is  the 
way;  walk  ye  in  it. 


SONSHIP. 

PRIDE  OF  BIRTH. 

"Whose  son  art  thou?"     I  Samuel  17:  58. 

A  wonderful  thing  had  happened  in  the  valley  of  Elah. 
The  armies  of  Israel  and  PhiHstia  had  long  been  facing 
each  other  from  the  opposite  hills,  and  now  the  deadlock 
was  broken.  A  boy  of  seventeen  had  gone  out  against 
the  champion  of  PhiHstia  and  slain  him.  The  victor 
was  a  mere  stripling.  The  camp  was  ringing  with  his 
praises.  The  king  from  his  pavilion  had  seen  the  boy  go 
forth,  with  a  sheepskin  about  his  loins  and  a  sling  in  his 
hand.  He  had  seen  him  swing  the  leathern  thong  once, 
twice,  thrice  and  cast  the  stone;  and,  lo!  GoHath  fell. 
In  the  midst  of  the  shouting  that  followed,  the  king 
turned  to  his  commander-in-chief  and  said,  "  Whose  son 
is  this  youth  ?  "  Observe,  he  did  not  ask,  "  Who  is  he  ?  " 
but,  "Whose  son  is  he?"  On  Abner's  replying,  "O 
king,  I  cannot  tell, "  he  repeated  his  question  in  prac- 
tically the  same  form :  "  Inquire  whose  son  the  stripling 
is  ?  "  And  when  Abner  came  back  with  David  himself, 
in  whose  hand  was  the  gory  head  of  the  PhiHstine,  the 
king  again  asked,  "  Whose  son  art  thou,  young  man  ? " 

Why  so.^  What  difference  did  it  make  whose  son 
David  was  ?    A  man  is  not  responsible  for  his  forebears; 

(84) 


SONSHIP.  85 

he  can  only  answer  for  himself.  He  had  no  voice  in  the 
choosing  of  his  parents;  but  he  is  bound  to  determine 
what  manner  of  man  he  himself  will  be.  And  Saul  was 
the  last  man  in  the  world  to  be  over-particular  about  a 
man's  lineage,  since  he  was  himself  only  a  farmer's  son, 
picked  up  by  a  prophet  while  hunting  his  father's  asses 
on  the  hills.  But  this  is  usually  the  case;  trust  a  par- 
venu to  be  a  tuft  hunter!  The  important  fact  is,  that, 
whether  a  man  be  high-born  or  low-born,  he  is  as  Cer- 
vantes said,  "  the  son  of  his  own  works.  "  A  weaver  in 
the  Highlands  used  to  make  this  daily  prayer,  "  O  Lord, 
give  me  a  good  opinion  of  myself!"  This  is  one  of  the 
things  which  cannot  be  inherited. 

Our  joy  is  not  that  we  have  got  the  crown. 
But  that  the  power  to  win  the  crown  is  ours. 

Nevertheless  there  is  something  to  be  said  for  the  fam- 
ily tree.  "Blood  is  thicker  than  water."  It  is  a  grave 
misfortune  for  a  man  to  be  lacking  in  family  pride.  I  do 
not  recall  which  of  the  poets  wrote, 

My  ancient  but  ignoble  blood 

Has  flowed  through  scoundrels  ever  since  the  flood; 

but,  whoever  he  was,  he  betrayed  a  most  vulgar  taste. 

I.  It  will  be  observed  that  David  had  no  contempt 
for  his  ancestry.  His  answer  was  to  the  point: 
"I  am  the  son  of  thy  servant  Jesse,  the  Bethlehemite." 

We  know  little  of  Jesse,  save  that  he  was  a  good  man. 
Tradition  says  he  wove  veils  for  the  sanctuary;  if  so, 
this  was  purely  a  labor  of  love.    His  business  was  that  of 


86  THE    EVOLUTION   OF    A   CHRISTIAN. 

a  farmer.  It  would  appear  that  his  possessions  were 
chiefly  in  sheep  and  goats.  His  wife,  the  mother  of  Da- 
vid, is  mentioned  but  not  named,  from  which  we  infer 
that  she  was  modestly  devoted  to  her  calling  as  a  far- 
mer's wife. 

The  thing  to  be  observed  in  this  connection  is  that, 
humble  as  the  parentage  of  David  was,  he  was  not  a- 
shamed  of  it.  This  is  evident  not  only  in  his  answer  to 
Saul's  question,  but  from  a  subsequent  event,  which 
occurred  after  he  had  become  familiar  with  life  at  court. 
When  by  the  king's  displeasure  he  had  been  driven  to 
seek  shelter  in  the  cave  of  Adullam,  his  old  father  and 
mother,  dispossessed  of  the  farm  at  Bethlehem,  sought 
him  there;  and  David,  ill  satisfied  with  the  scanty  com- 
forts which  the  humble  cave  would  afford  them,  took 
them  across  the  border  to  the  king  of  Moab  and  commit- 
ted them  to  his  care,  saying,  "Let  my  father  and  my 
mother,  I  pray  thee,  be  with  you,  till  I  know  what  God 
will  do  for  me"  (I  Sam.  22:3). 

All  blessings  on  those  who  cherish  and  practice  the 
homely  grace  of  filial  piety.  It  is  probable  that  some  of 
my  present  readers  are  farmers'  sons  and  daughters. 
If  so,  when  the  old  father  comes  to  town  to  visit  you,  his 
hands  horny  and  his  clothes  out  of  fashion,  will  you 
blush  for  him  ?  Or  if  the  old  mother  pauses  to  gaze  at 
the  sights  and  look  in  at  the  windows  along  the  street, 
will  you  be  impatient  of  her  ?  True,  her  face  is  seamed 
with  crows'  feet  and  wrinkles,  but  they  are  lines  of 
beauty  to  the  eyes  of  love.    They  tell  of  weaiy  watch- 


SONSHIP.  87 

care,  of  long  nights  and  aching  arms.  Dear  mother, 
queen  of  the  world!  Be  it  known  to  all  young  people 
that  the  fifth  Commandment  has  lost  neither  its  imper- 
ativeness nor  its  promise:  "Honor  thy  father  and  thy 
mother,  that  thy  days  may  be  long  upon  the  land  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee." 

But  why  should  David  have  been  proud  of  his  de- 
scent from  Jesse  ?  Or  why  should  we  make  mention  of 
our  parents .?  Wherein  have  they  enriched  us  ?  What 
have  they  bequeathed  to  us? 

A  Name^  to  begin  with. 

If  it  be  an  honorable  name  so  much  the  better.  A 
title  and  coat-of-arms  can  add  Httle  to  it.  In  any  case 
we  shall  have  our  hands  full  to  Hve  up  to  it. 

And,  perhaps,  a  Patrimony  also. 

If  it  be  Httle,  let  us  improve  it ;  if  great,  heaven  help 
us!  There  are  rich  men's  sons  who  use  their  inheri- 
tance to  the  honor  of  their  fathers  and  their  own.  All 
praise  to  them !  But  shame  and  contempt  upon  such  as 
take  advantage  of  the  results  of  parental  industry  to  live 
in  indolence ;  who  earn  their  bread  only  by  the  sweat  of 
their  fathers'  brows.  Non-producers,  be  they  rich  or 
poor,  are  tramps  and  cumberera  of  the  ground,  since 
they  add  nothing  to  the  world's  exchequer,  to  the  good 
of  their  fellow  men  or  the  glory  of  God. 

And  there  is  an  inheritance,  also,  of  Physical  Traits, 

"  Like  father,  like  child."  How  often  we  hear  it  said, 
"He  looks  hke  his  father,"  or  "She  is  the  very  image  of 
her  mother."    The  great  stature  of  the  inhabitants  of 


88  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

Potsdam,  the  old  capital  of  Prussia,  is  often  remarked 
upon.  It  came  about  in  this  way :  Two  hundred  years 
ago  Frederick  the  Great  conceived  a  desire  to  have  a- 
bout  him  a  bodyguard  of  stalwart  men.  He  recruited 
them  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  by  methods  just  and 
otherwise.  And  it  is  their  descendants  whom  you  see, 
tall,  large-boned  and  stalwart,  in  Potsdam  to-day. 

Our  parents  transmit  to  us  also,  in  less  or  greater  de- 
gree, their  Mental  Characteristics. 

It  was  calculated  by  Ribot,  the  scientist,  that  not  less 
than  forty  per  cent,  of  the  illustrious  poets  of  English 
literature  have  been  descendants  of  those  who  had 
drunk  at  the  Pierian  Spring.  The  inheritance  of  genius 
has  been  obvious  in  the  Plinys  and  Senecas,  the  Pitts 
and  Sheridans  and  Wilberforces,  theHaydens  and  Hum- 
boldts,  the  Adamses  and  Harrisons,  and  innumerable 
others  who  have  made  their  influence  felt  as  gifted  men. 

But  there  is  one  thing  which  cannot  be  inherited;  to 
wit.  Character. 

At  this  point  every  man  must  needs  be  a  self-made 
man.  The  "  empiric  character,"  of  which  Kant  speaks, 
is  not  character  at  all,  inasmuch  as  it  involves  no  moral 
responsibility.  We  are,  indeed,  all  handicapped  in  one 
way  or  another  by  the  transmission  of  moral  weakness, 
but  never  in  such  measure  that  by  manly  struggle  we 
may  not  overcome  it.  In  the  light  of  this  fact  the  ad- 
dress of  Wordsworth  "To  the  Sons  of  Robert  Bums," 
poor  Burns  with  his  sordid  vices,  has  a  pathetic  signi- 
ficance: 


SONSHIP.  89 

Ye  now  are  panting  up  life's  hill; 
'Tis  twilight  time  of  good  and  ill. 
And  more  than  common  strength  and  skill 

Must  ye  display. 
If  ye  would  give  the  better  will 

Its  lawful  sway. 

Strong-bodied  if  ye  be  to  bear 
Intemperance  with  less  harm,  beware! 
But  if  your  father's  wit  ye  share. 

Then,  then,  indeed. 
Ye  sons  of  Burns,  for  watchful  care 

There  will  be  need! 

Let  no  mean  hope  your  souls  enslave; 
Be  independent,  generous,  brave! 
Your  father  such  example  gave. 

And  such  revere! 
But  be  admonished  by  his  grave. 

And  think  and  fear! 

II.  We  must  go  further,  however,  with  the  lineage  oi 
David. 

In  the  Gospel  of  Luke  we  find  it  traced  to  its  begin- 
ning: "He  was  the  son  of  Jesse,  who  was  the  son  of 
Obed,  who  was  the  son  of  Boaz,"  and  so  on  until  we 
come  to  "  Cainan,  who  was  the  son  of  Enos,  who  was  the 
son  of  Seth,  who  was  the  son  of  Adam  "  (Luke  3 :  32-38). 
Thus  it  returns  to  Adam  as  the  fons  et  origo  of  the  race. 
But  why  should  it  be  regarded  as  important  to  trace 
one's  genealogy  to  the  first  man? 

First,  because  we  have  inherited  from  him  our  dig- 
nity as  men.    We  belong  to  the  highest  and  dominant 


90  THE    EVOLUTION   OF    A   CHRISTIAN. 

order  of  life.  It  is  a  great  thing  to  be  able  to  say. 
Homo  sum!  When  Plato  was  asked  to  define  man, 
he  said,  "  He  is  a  featherless  biped.  "  The  next  day  one 
of  the  cynics  appeared  at  the  Academy  with  a  plucked 
fowl,  saying,  "Behold  your  man!"  To  a  Darwinian 
this  may  be  a  satisfactory  statement  of  the  case,  but 
not  to  one  who  possesses  a  just  family  pride.  The 
author  of  "The  Simple  Life"  is  fond  of  saying  that 
"man  is  the  half  of  God."  But  man  is  neither  the 
half  nor  the  quarter  nor  any  segment  of  God.  It  is 
sufficient  to  meet  all  the  demands  of  self-respect  to  say 
that  our  life  is  a  spark  thrown  off  from  the  infinite  life 
of  God. 

And  from  Adam  we  get,  also,  an  inheritance  of 
equality.  Any  man  may  look  any  other  in  the  face 
and  say,  "By  nature  I  am  as  good  as  thou."  All  our 
family  trees  grow  in  the  same  forest.  This  is  the  fact 
that  stands  forth  in  Paul's  statement  to  the  boastful 
autochthons  of  Athens:  "God  hath  made  of  one 
blood  all  nations  of  men";  and  in  the  Preamble  of  our 
Declaration  of  Independence,  "All  men  are  created 
equal  and  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  in- 
alienable rights";  and,   in  Burn's  ringing  words, 

A  prince  can  mak'  a  belted  knight, 

A  marquis,  duke,  and  a'  that; 
But  an  honest  man's  aboon  his  might, — 

Guid  faith,  he  maunna  fa'  that! 

For  a'  that,  and  a'  that, 

Their  dignities,  and  a'  that; 


SONSHIP.  91 

The  pith  o'  sense,  and  pride  o*  worth. 
Are  higher  ranks  than  a'  that. 

In  the  light  of  this  proposition  it  is  clear  that  no  man  is 
warranted  in  putting  on  airs.  You  may  refuse  to  sit 
at  table  with  a  black  man;  but  if  there  is  any  truth  in 
Scripture,  you  will  have  to  do  that  when  you  get  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven :  for  it  is  written  that  they  shall 
come  from  the  east  and  the  west,  and  from  the  north 
and  the  south,  and  sit  down  together  at  the  marriage 
supper  of  the  Lamb.  And  they  shall  sing  a  new  song, 
saying,  "Thou  art  worthy,  for  thou  hast  redeemed 
us  out  of  every  kindred  and  tongue  and  people  and 
nation,  and  hast  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God." 

But  there  is  another  inheritance  transmitted  from 
Adam  to  us  and  to  all  the  children  of  men  which  is 
not  so  pleasant  to  contemplate,  namely.  Sin. 

The  doctrine  of  original  sin  as  formulated  in  the 
New    England    Primer, 

In  Adam's  fall 
We  sinned  all, 

is  repudiated  in  many  quarters  nowadays.  No  matter, 
let  is  pass.  We  need  not  be  strenuous  about  the  phras- 
ing of  the  fact.  "Heredity"  will  answer  just  as  well. 
All  who  are  keeping  abreast  of  current  discussion  are 
prepared  to  concede  that  something,  which  does  not 
make  for  righteousness,  comes  down  to  us  in  the  current 
of  our  ancestral  blood.  It  makes  no  difference  what 
you  call  it;  thefact  is  not  disputed;  something  is  wrong 


92  THE    EVOLUTION   OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

with  US.  Paul  puts  it  on  this  wise:  "There  is  no 
difference;  all  are  concluded  under  sin."  The  uni- 
versal consciousness  responds,  Yea  and  Amen.  We 
are  all  sensible  of  a  war  in  our  members;  "the  good 
that  we  would,  we  do  not;  and  the  evil  we  would 
not,  that  we  do."  And,  struggle  as  we  will,  we  seem 
unable  to  extricate  ourselves  from  these  hereditary 
bonds.  No  man,  by  his  unaided  effort,  can  overcome 
them.  We  are  all  driven  at  last  to  Paul's  despairing 
cry,  "O  wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver 
me?" 

III.  But  the  lineage  of  David  goes  further  still. 
"He  was  the  son  of  Enos,  who  was  the  son  of  Seth, 
who  was  the  son  of  Adam,  who  was  the  son  of  God" 
(Luke  3:38).  Here  we  have  the  natural  descent  of 
man  from  God.  As  it  is  written,  "So  God  created 
man  in  His  own  image ;  in  the  image  of  God  created  He 
him.  And  He  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of 
Hfe,  and  man  became  a  living  soul." 

To  this  there  has  been  a  universal  consent,  among 
all  nations  from  the  beginning.  The  supreme  king  of 
the  Olympian  gods  was  Jupiter,  or  Zeus-pater. 
The  chief  of  the  Norse  gods  was  Al-fadir,  that  is, 
Father-of-all.  The  poet  Aratus,  from  whom  Paul 
quoted  in  his  discourse  on  Mars  Hill,  says,  "We  are 
also  his  offspring."  Thus  the  natural  Fatherhood  of 
God  has  been  admitted  on  all  sides. 

But  if  the  Scriptures  are  to  be  believed,  this  fact  has 
little  bearing  on  the  doctrine  of  eternal  life,  since  the 


SONSHIP.  93 

race,  though  originally  created  in  the  divine  likeness,  has 
fallen  from  its  high  estate  through  sin.  The  inheri- 
tance has  been  forfeited  and  the  children  are  disowned 
by  their  own  act.  Their  position  is  set  forth  in  the 
Parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  "in  the  far  country";  he 
went  away  from  home,  wasted  his  substance  in  riotous 
living  and  degenerated  into  a  feeder  of  swine.  This 
picture  is  true  to  life;  or,  as  Coleridge  would  say,  "  It 
finds  me."  We  know  that  sin  has  driven  us  into  exile; 
and  we  know  that  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see 
God. 

We  are  obliged  to  turn  therefore  from  the  natural 
to  the  spiritual  sonship  which  is  revealed  in  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  It  is  written,  "We  have  not  received  the 
spirit  of  bondage  again  to  fear,  but  have  received  the 
Spirit  of  adoption  whereby  we  cry,  Abba  Father." 
The  restoration,  thus  referred  to,  is  accomplished 
through  the  intervention  of  the  Only-begotten  Son, 
who  goes  out  into  the  far  country  "  to  seek  and  save  the 
lost."  He  finds  the  prodigal  and  brings  him  back  to 
the  Father's  house;  where  we  behold  him  sitting  at 
table  with  the  signet  ring  and  the  best  robe  on  him. 
In  thus  interposing  in  our  behalf  Christ  becomes  "the 
first-born  among  many  brethren,"  and  Elder  Brother 
of   all   who   believe   in   Him. 

The  steps  in  this  restoration  are  as  follows: 
FirsU  Faith;    as   it   is   written.   The   only -begotten 
Son  "came  unto  His  own,  and  His  own  received  Him 
not;  but  to  as  many  as  received  Him  to  them  gave  He 


94  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

right  to  become  the  sons  of  God."  Observe,  "to  as 
many  as  received  Him."  For  "he  that  believeth  on 
the  Son  hath  everlasting  Hfe;  and  he  that  beheveth 
not,  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  upon  him." 

Second,  Regeneration.  With  this  we  have  nothing 
to  do.  It  is  wrought,  "not  by  the  will  of  flesh,  nor 
by  the  will  of  man  but  by  the  will  of  God."  The 
moment  a  man  accepts  Christ  as  his  Saviour  the  trans- 
formation takes  place.  It  is  a  new  birth ;  or,  as  in  the 
original,  "a  birth  from  above."  And  Jesus  said, 
"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Except  a  man  be  born 
again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Third,  Assurance.  "  The  Spirit  beareth  witness  with 
our  spirit  that  we  are  the  children  of  God." 

Fourth,  Sanctification.  This  is  wrought  under  the 
influence  of  the  Spirit,  which  the  Elder  Brother  breathes 
upon  us,  saying,  " Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost."  By 
this  influence  we  are  enabled  to  grow  in  grace  and 
in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ; 
in  other  words,  to  build  character;  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit  being  love,  joy,  peace,  longsuffering,  gentleness, 
goodness,  faith.  Furthermore,  we  are  thus  equipped 
for  service.  The  last  we  see  of  the  prodigal  son  in 
the  parable,  he  is  sitting  at  the  table  amid  sounds  of 
laughter  and  merrymaking.  But  if  that  were  all,  it 
would  have  been,  indeed,  a  strange  home-bringing. 
We  are  quite  safe  in  supposing  that,  the  day  after 
his  return,  this  son  went  out  and  helped  to  reap  the 
harvests  in  his  father's  fields.     By  the  influence  of 


SONSHIP.  95 

the  Spirit  we  are  qualified  to  perform  the  work  as- 
signed to  us  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  fijth  and  final  step  brings  us  to  Eternal  Life. 
"  Now  are  we  sons  of  God,  but  it  doth  not  yet  appear 
what  we  shall  be."  "If  sons,  then  heirs;  heirs  of  God 
and  joint  heirs  with  Jesus  Christ  to  an  inheritance  in- 
corruptible and  undefiled  and  that  fadeth  not  away." 
This  is  Eternal  Life.  The  Father's  house!  Home  at 
last! 

All  this  is  accomplished  through  faith  in  Christ. 
If  David  himself  were  asked  as  to  his  pride  of  birth, 
he  would  surely  reply,  "My  boast  is  in  no  earthly  Hn- 
eage  but  in  my  relation  to  Christ."  For  he  was  a  Chris- 
tian if  ever  there  was  one,  though  he  lived  a  thousand 
years  before  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  He 
saw  Christ  afar  off  and  sang  His  praises.  Not  once 
in  the  Psalter  do  we  come  upon  the  name  of  Jesse  or  of 
Adam;  but  the  songs  of  David  are  full  of  references  to 
the  coming   Christ. 

If  we  must  needs  boast,  we  also  shall  glory  in  our 
vital  relation  with  the  Elder  Brother  who  brings  us 
back  to  God.  In  Him  we  regain  our  lost  inheritance. 
By  Him  our  forfeited  crown  is  restored  to  us.  It  is 
for  us,  however,  to  say  whether  we  will  receive  it. 
When  Samuel  came  up  to  Mizpah  to  anoint  Saul  as 
king  of  Israel,  the  young  man  could  not  be  found ;  and 
those  who  went  seeking  him  returned  with  the  words, 
"Behold,  he  hath  hid  himself  among  the  stuff."  The 
gospel  is   a  call  to  royal  honors.     Come,   take  thy 


^6  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

crown!  But  alas!  there  are  multitudes  who  hide 
themselves  among  the  stuff  and  will  not  hear  it.  Friend, 
your  crown  awaits  you.  Will  you  allow  Christ  to 
bring  you  back  to  God  ?  This  done,  it  remains  only  to 
quit  yourself  like  a  high-born  man.  "If  ye  be  risen 
with  Christ," — that  is,  into  newness  of  life, — "seek 
those  things  which  are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  at 
the  right  hand  of  God!" 


CHARACTER. 

FOUR  THINGS  NEEDFUL. 

"Of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom, 
and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption:  that,  according 
as  it  is  written,  he  that  glorieth,  let  him  glory  in  the  Lord."  I  Corinth- 
ians   1:30,31. 

Adam  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  had  all  that  his  heart 
could  desire,  all  that  was  necessary  to  make  his  happi- 
ness complete,  with  the  exception  of  one  thing;  to  wit. 
Character.  If  he  was  ever  to  have  Character,  he  must 
win  it.  He  must  pass  through  an  ordeal  in  order  to 
show  himself  a  man.  Up  to  that  point  his  virtue  was 
mere  innocency,  which  is  wholly  negative,  like  the  im- 
maculateness  of  a  marble  statue;  hence  the  necessity  of 
the  forbidden  tree.  In  eating  of  it  Adam  lost  all,  not 
only  the  joys  of  Paradise  but,  infinitely  worse,  the  oppor- 
tunity of  winning  a  positive  Character  for  himself  and 
his  children  after  him. 

Life  was  destined  to  be  thenceforth  a  bundle  of 
wants.  As  a  shell  cast  upon  the  shore  still  murmurs  of 
the  sea,  so  does  the  soul  of  man  long  for  its  lost  in- 
heritance. It  would  not  be  satisfied,  however,  with 
the  pleasures  of  the  Garden;  it  must  have,  in  order 
to  its  final  satisfaction,  the  thing  which  Adam  failed  to 
win,  that  is,  Character.    In  that  word  is  represented  the 

deepest  longing  of  the  race;  and  that  longing  can  be  met 

(97) 


98  THE    EVOLUTION   OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

only  in  Christ.  His  purpose  in  coming  into  the  world 
was  not  merely  to  restore  the  joys  of  Paradise  to  the 
children  of  men,  but  to  give  them  another  chance  to  win 
Character.  And  this  is  set  forth  in  Paul's  presentation 
of  the  matter  to  the  Christians  of  Corinth.  He  mentions 
the  four  things  needful  in  the  forming  of  Character;  and 
affirms  that  we  have  them  in  Christ  and  nowhere  else. 

The  first  of  these  is  Wisdom. 

This  does  not  mean  knowledge  in  general,  but  truth 
in  the  province  of  the  spiritual  life.  The  most  important 
things  for  us  to  know  are  not  the  final  analysis  of  matter 
or  the  distance  of  the  fixed  stars,  but  rather  the  things 
which  concern  our  relation  to  God.  We  want  to  know 
whether  there  is  a  God  and  whether  we  ourselves  are 
immortal  and  whether  there  is  any  way  of  being 
delivered  from  sin.  It  is  in  the  solution  of  such  problems 
that  we  find  the  wisdom  whose  "price  is  above  rubies "; 
and  it  is  precisely  here  that  Christ  enlightens  us. 

He  teaches  truth;  and  He  alone  can  speak  with 
authority  concerning  the  problems  of  the  endless  life. 
The  agnostic  disavows  all  knowledge  of  the  super- 
natural. The  positivist  says,  "  We  can  see  phenomena, 
but  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  try  to  account  for  them." 
The  materialist  says,  "As  to  any  other  world  or  any 
hereafter,  we  can  only  speculate.  We  know  that  we 
are  living  here  and  now;  and  that  is  enough.  Let  us 
eat  and  drink,  for  tomorrow  we  die." 

But  here  comes  Jesus  with  a  philosophy  in  which 
**life  and  immortahty  are  brought  to  Hght."    We  ask 


CHARACTER.  99 

Him  to  show  us  God ;  and  He  answers,  "  Have  I  been 
so  long  time  with  you ;  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known  me  ? 
He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father.  Behevest 
thou  not  that  I  am  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  me  ? 
We  ask  Him,  "If  a  man  die,  will  he  live  again .^"  and, 
standing  by  an  open  grave.  He  answers,  "He  that 
believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live ; 
and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never 
die. "  We  ask  Him  if  there  is  any  way  of  being  delivered 
from  sin  and  from  the  certain  fearful  looking-for  of 
judgment  which  accompanies  it;  and  He  points  to  the 
cross  saying,  "The  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and 
save  that  which  was  lost  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom 
for  many.  He  that  believeth  in  me  hath  everlasting 
life."  We  call  ourselves  His  disciples  and,  as  such, 
sitting  about  His  feet  and  taking  Him  at  His  word,  we 
solve  these  problems  of  the  eternal  world.  It  is  obvious, 
therefore,  that  a  man  may  be  very  ignorant,  as  the 
schools  count  ignorance,  and  yet  be  a  very  wise  man. 
He  may  know  nothing  about  the  stars,  but  he  has  dis- 
covered the  Bright  and  Morning  Star.  He  may  know 
nothing  about  metaphysics,  but  he  has  found  out  the 
secret  of  life. 

It  is  not  enough  to  say,  however,  that  Christ  teaches 
truth.    He  goes  farther  and  affirms,  "  I  am  the  Truth." 

In  these  words  He  reduces  religion  to  a  personal  and 
vital  relation  with  Him.  As  Christians  we  are  bound  to 
do  more  than  hearken  to  Him.  Thomas  was  with  Him 
as  a  disciple  during  all  His  ministery,  but  he  never  really 


100  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

believed  in  Him  till  Christ  said,  "Reach  hither  thy 
hand  and  thrust  it  into  my  side";  then  he  cried,  "My 
Lord  and  my  God !  '*  By  faith  we  appropriate  not  only 
the  things  which  Christ  teaches,  but  Christ  Himself; 
and,  finding  Him,  we  pass  through  the  halls  of  wisdom 
into  the  possession  of  life.  Paul  was  a  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Jerusalem,  a  Doctor  of  Divinity  and  a 
Doctor  of  Laws,  yet  he  reckoned  the  knowledge  thus 
acquired  as  mere  dross  in  comparison  with  what  he 
learned  when  Chri^  was  made  manifest  to  him.  "I 
am  resolved,"  he  said,  "henceforth  to  know  nothing 
but  Christ  and  Him  crucified ! "  He  had  found  religion 
in  a  personal  relation  to  Christ  and  all  the  remainder 
of  the  encyclopedia  was  relatively  of  slight  value  to  him. 

The  second  of  the  essential  factors  of  Character  is 
Righteousness. 

"Truth  is  in  order  to  goodness."  Doctrine  is  the 
foundation  of  ethics.  Righteousness  is  the  principal 
thing ;  and  the  key  to  righteousness  is  the  word  "  impu- 
tation." It  suggests  a  singular  exchange,  in  this,  that 
Christ  takes  our  sins  and  gives  us  His  righteousness. 

By  righteousness  we  understand,  in  part,  freedom 
from  sin.  This  is  the  negative  side  of  it.  There  is  an  old 
score  against  us  by  reason  of  our  many  transgressions 
against  the  Moral  Law  and  it  is  obvious  that  no  man 
can  build  character  until  that  score  is  disposed  of.  As 
well  try  to  run  a  race  with  a  ball  and  chain  on  one*s 
ankle.  But  the  question  is,  How  to  get  rid  of  it  ?  Job 
says,  "Though  I  wash  myself  with  snow  water,  and 


CHARACTER.  101 

make  myself  never  so  clean ;  yet  shall  Thou  plunge  me  in 
the  ditch,  and  mine  own  clothes  shall  abhor  me."  In 
other  words,  no  man  can  purge  himself  from  sin;  but 
Christ  in  the  shedding  of  His  blood  opens  a  fountain 
for  our  uncleanness.  "Come  now,"  He  says,  "let  us 
reason  together:  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they 
shall  be  as  white  as  snow;  though  they  be  red  like 
crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool."  So  a  man  becomes 
negatively  righteous  or  "justified"  by  believing  in  Christ 
who  washes  away  his  past  sin. 

But  righteousness  is  more  than  innocency.  On  its 
positive  side  it  is  personal  merit.  And  the  question  now 
is.  How  shall  a  man  acquire  merit  ?  Can  he  make  any 
of  his  own  ?  "  By  the  deeds  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be 
justified."  We  hear  sometimes  of  "works  of  supereroga- 
tion," that  is,  works  over  and  above  the  requirement  of 
the  law.  But  such  works  are  impossible,  since  every 
moment  is  laden  with  its  own  responsibilities.  A  man 
is  not  rewarded  for  keeping  the  law ;  that  is  simply  what 
is  expected  of  him.  Medals  and  decorations  are  not  con- 
ferred for  complying  with  statutes  and  ordinances, 
though  chains  and  imprisonment  are  inflicted  for  vio- 
lating them.  Yet  without  merit  no  man  shall  enter  into 
the  kingdom. 

All  over  the  world  there  are  people  vainly  trying  to 
make  merit;  nuns  telling  their  beads,  flagellants  doing 
penance,  devotees  bathing  in  the  Ganges,  moralists  giv- 
ing alms.  But  the  only  work  of  supererogation  ever 
wrought  on  earth  was  that  of  Jesus  Christ.    The  law 


102  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

required  nothing  of  Him.  In  becoming  subject  to  it  and 
rendering  a  perfect  obedience  He  laid  up  a  great  reserve 
of  merit.  Out  of  this  infinite  reserve  He  imputes  right- 
eousness to  those  who  beHeve  in  Him.  As  He  took  our 
sins,  making  them  His  very  own  and  bearing  them  in 
His  own  body  on  the  tree,  so  now  He  gives  us  His 
righteousness,  making  it  our  very  own,  as  if  He  threw  a 
garment  of  "  fine  Hnen,  clean  and  white  "  over  us.  Thisis 
the  wedding  garment  which  entitles  us  to  enter  hea- 
ven.   And  it  is  by  reason  of  this  imputation  that  we  sing : 

Jesus,  Thy  blood  and  righteousness 
My  beauty  are,  my  glorious  dress; 
'Mid  flaming  worlds  in  these  arrayed. 
With  joy  shall  I  lift  up  my  head. 

And  this  is  acquired  simply  and  solely  by  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ.  The  one  thing  that  a  man  can  do,  which 
bears  the  semblance  of  merit,  is  to  believe  in  Him ;  as  it 
is  written,  "  This  is  the  work  of  God  (that  is,  acceptable 
to  God),  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath  sent." 

The  third  factor  in  the  building  of  character  is 
Sandification. 

This  also  is  by  faith  in  Christ.  The  man  who  has 
gone  thus  far  in  acquiring  wisdom  and  righteousness  is 
sure  of  two  things,  namely,  "  no  condemnation  "  and  "  a 
title  clear  to  mansions  in  the  skies.'*  One  thing  more  is 
needed;  that  is,  fitness  for  a  high  place  of  usefulness  in 
the  eternal  life. 

A  letter  came  to  me  once  from  an  ex-convict  which 
will  illustrate  the  matter  in  hand.     He  said: 


CHARACTER.  103 

''Dear  Sir: 

*'A  few  months  ago  I  came  out  of  Sing  Sing. 
I  was  guilty  of  the  crime  of  ivhich  I  was  charged;  hut 
I  served  my  time  like  a  man.  I  am  an  old-time  crook 
and  the  police  know  me.  I  have  had  several  positions, 
but  they  have  informed  upon  me  from  time  to  time,  and 
I  am  unable  to  keep  a  place.  I  want  to  live  a  square 
and  honest  life.  But  what  shall  I  do?  Will  you  kindly 
advise  me?" 

The  pathos  of  his  situation  is  clear.  But  there  was  only 
one  thing  to  say  to  him :  "  You  must  begin  at  the  bottom 
and  work  up.  It  is  inevitable  that  the  consequences  of 
your  vicious  life  should  follow  you.  But  you  can  live 
down  your  record  and  show  by  faithful  service  in  hum- 
ble positions  that  you  are  worthy  of  confidence  and  so 
earn  promotion;  and  by  patient  continuance  in  well 
doing  you  will  win  out." 

Now,  this  is  precisely  the  case  of  the  sinner  who  has 
transferred  his  sins  to  Christ  and  received  the  merit  of 
His  righteousness.  He  need  not  be  afraid  of  the  past, 
since  it  is  expiated ;  nor  need  he  have  any  misgivings  as 
to  his  entrance  into  heaven.  But  it  remains  for  him,  by 
faithful  service  in  apprenticeship  here,  to  qualify  himself 
for  promotion  and  nobler  service. 

The  secret  of  sanctification  is  looking  unto  Jesus.  He 
is  not  only  our  Saviour  from  sin  and  our  Advocate  at 
heaven's  gate,  but  He  is  our  Exemplar  in  right  living 
here  and  now.  It  is  by  the  imitation  of  Christ  that  we 
grow  in  virtue,  in  usefulness,  in  character;  as  it  is 
written,   "  We  all,  with  open  face  beholding  as  in  a 


104  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

mirror  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same 
image,  from  glor^'  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord." 

Aye;  "by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord";  for  in  this  process 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  vitalizing  force.  It  is  the  function 
of  the  Spirit  to  bring  to  remembrance  whatsoever  Christ 
has  said  unto  us.  He  said  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  He  shall 
take  of  mine  and  show  it  unto  you."  It  is  the  Spirit 
who  enjoins  upon  us  the  importance  of  living  in  the 
society  of  Jesus ;  and,  while  there,  He  impresses  upon  us 
the  likeness  of  Jesus;  so  that  at  length  we  come  "unto 
a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the 
fulness  of  Christ."  And  this  is  the  consummation  of 
Character.  We  are  fitted  in  this  manner  not  merely  to 
enter  heaven,  but  to  enter  it  as  able  workmen  needing 
not  to  be  ashamed,  wise  in  the  things  of  the  kingdom, 
skilled  in  service  and  ready  for  the  master's  word  of 
promotion,  "  Thou  hast  been  faithful  in  a  few  things,  I 
will  make  thee  ruler  over  ten  cities." 

The  fourth  and  final  factor  in  the  building  of  Char- 
acter is  Redemption. 

The  sound  of  breaking  chains  is  in  the  word.  It 
indicates  the  final  deliverance  from  the  bondage  of  sin 
and  entrance  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of 
God. 

One  of  the  old-time  theologians  speaks  of  three  kinds 
of  spiritual  life:  (1)  In  pretio;  that  is,  deliverance 
through  the  ransom  which  Christ  has  paid  for  us.  (2) 
In  promisso;  that  is,  the  hope  of  heaven  by  virtue  of  the 


CHARACTEEL  105 

exceeding  great  and  precious  promises  given  unto  us. 
(3)  In  semine;  or  by  foretaste.  We  cannot  understand 
what  eternal  life  means,  since  "  eye  hath  not  seen,  ear 
hath  not  heard,  neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of 
man  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that 
love  Him."  But  we  have  earnests  of  it.  A  bunch  of 
grapes  now  and  then  along  the  way  makes  us  yearn  for 
the  vineyards  of  Eshcol.  As  the  transfer  of  land  in  the 
Middle  Ages  was  sealed  by  the  seller  placing  a  bit  of  turf 
in  the  purchaser's  hand,  so  do  we  occasionally  in  the 
closet  or  at  the  sacramental  table  get  a  glimpse  of 
heaven,  giving  us  to  know  that  it  is  ours  in  reversion 
through  faith  in  Christ. 

Thus  our  longings  for  Character  are  realized  in  Christ. 
Wisdom,  Righteousness,  Sanctification,  Redemption; 
what  remains  to  be  desired  ?  When  Philip  Melancthon 
was  dying,  one  of  his  attendants  asked,  "  Can  we  do 
anything  more  for  you  ?  "  He  answered,  "  Nothing  is 
left  but  heaven." 

But  where  is  self  in  all  this?  Self  is  lost  sight  of. 
Christ  is  all.  A  man  who  goes  to  battle  with  the  courage 
that  wins  the  iron  cross  is  ever  self -forgetful.  The 
Christian  serves  himself  best  when  he  forgets  self  in 
his  service  of  God. 

And  where  is  boasting  ?  God  alone  has  the  glory.  So 
Paul  says  to  the  Christians  of  Corinth,  who  were  sur- 
rounded by  men  who  were  proud  of  their  wisdom,  "If 
any  man  glorieth,  let  him  glory  in  the  Lord." 

Christ  is  commended  to  the  earnest  man  who  longs 


106  THE    EVOLUTION   OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

for  Character.  There  is  no  true  Character  except  that 
which  is  formulated  by  the  imitation  of  Christ.  "  Talk 
they  of  morals ?  O  Thou  bleeding  Lamb!  The  true 
morality  is  love  of  Thee!"  To  undertake  to  build 
character  without  Christ  is  like  trying  to  produce  a  tree 
by  gathering  a  bundle  of  fagots.  Plant  the  acorn.  Faith 
in  Christ  is  the  seed  of  character.  We  grow  to  manhood 
by  growing  like  Him. 

A  sermon  by  Philip  Doddridge  on  the  text,  "Unto 
you  which  believe  He  is  precious,"  closed  with  a  hymn 
of  his  own  composition,  in  which  is  aptly  expressed  the 
satisfaction  of  the  soul  that,  realizing  the  philosophy  of 
Paul,  rests  in  Christ  and  finds  its  fulness  in  Him; 

Jesus,  I  love  Thy  charming  name, 

'Tis  music  to  mine  ear; 
Fain  would  I  sound  it  out  so  loud 

That  earth  and  heaven  should  hear. 

Yes,  Thou  art  precious  to  my  soul. 

My  transport  and  my  trust; 
Jewels  to  Thee  are  gaudy  toys. 

And  gold  is  sordid  dust. 

All  my  capacious  powers  can  wish 

In  Thee  doth  richly  meet; 
Not  to  mine  eyes  is  light  so  dear. 

Nor  friendship  half  so  sweet. 

I'll  speak  the  honors  of  Thy  name 

With  my  last  laboring  breath; 
Then,  speechless,  clasp  Thee  in  mine  arms. 

The  antidote  of  death. 


RENUNCIATION. 


THE  GRAVES  OF  LUST. 


"And  he  called  the  name  of  that  place  Kibroth-hattaavah:  because  there 
they  buried  the  people  that  lusted."     Nunabers  11:  34. 

The  journey  of  the  Israelites  through  the  wilderness 
is  an  apologue  of  life.  In  the  incident  at  Kibroth-hat- 
taavah we  have  the  last  of  four  episodes  which  stand 
out  like  living  pictures. 

The  first  is  the  Departure  from  Egypt.  It  is  estima- 
ted by  Dean  Alford  that  there  were  not  less  than  two 
million  four  hundred  thousand  men,  women  and  child- 
ren in  this  fugitive  host.  In  addition  to  these  there  was 
a  "mixed  multitude,"  made  up  of  aliens,  stragglers, 
half-breeds,  "lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort,"  adven- 
turers with  an  eye  to  the  main  chance,  malcontents 
into  whose  soul  the  iron  of  Egyptian  tyranny  had 
entered,  but  who  were  by  no  means  in  sympathy  with 
the  high  purposes  of  the  children  of  Israel.  It  was 
inevitable  that  this  contingent  should  play  an  important 
part,  for  better  or  worse,  in  the  story  of  the  pilgrimage. 

Our  army  during  the  Civil  War  was  attended  by  a 
mixed  multitude  of  like  character — sutlers,  gamesters, 
daughters  of  the  regiment,  vagabonds  and  outlaws  of 
every  sort,  who  were  constantly  demoralizing  the  rank 
and  file.   They  were  not  infrequently  dealt  with  by  "  or- 

(107) 


108  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

ders  from  headquarters  "  and  on  occasion  drummed  out 
of  camp. 

In  our  municipal  life  we  groan  under  the  maleficent 
influence  of  a  "mixed  multitude,"  consisting  of  po- 
litical thugs,  "floaters,"  rogues  and  beggars,  anar- 
chists, labor  agitators,  many  of  them  foreigners  who 
have  taken  out  their  naturalization  papers,  but  never 
caught  the  genius  of  our  American  life.  It  is  greatly 
to  be  doubted  whether  Municipal  Reform  will  ever 
become  an  estabhshed  fact  until  these  people  are  dealt 
with,  not  by  the  sporadic  appeals  of  electioneering 
reformers,  but  by  radical,  regenerative  methods. 

In  the  church,  also,  there  is  a  "  mixed  multitude  "  of 
loose-thinkers  and  loose-livers,  nominal  Christians, 
some  deceivers  and  others  self-deceived,  without  defi- 
nite convictions,  having  no  creed  and  consequently  no 
moral  code,  superficial  and  inconsistent  professors,  in 
the  church  but  not  of  it.  What  shall  be  done  about 
them?  Shall  Christians  come  down  to  their  low  level; 
or,  standing  by  the  fundamental  precepts  of  noncon- 
formity, seek  to  bring  them  up?  This  is  one  of  the 
important  problems  which  must  be  faced  before  the 
church  can  realize  the  divine  ideal.  And  that  consum- 
mation is  probably  a  long  way  off,  since  the  wheat  and 
the  tares  must  grow  together  until  the  Great  Day. 

In  the  second  of  the  episodes  referred  to,  we  are 
introduced  to  a  melancholy  spectacle.  The  mixed  mul- 
titude has  done  its  work.  The  children  of  Israel  are 
sitting  in  the  doorways  of  their  tents  weeping  and  la- 


RENUNCIATION.  109 

menting  for  the  Egyptian  flesh-pots.  It  is  true  that 
tears  in  the  Orient  He  near  the  surface:  but  however 
this  may  explain  the  puerile  and  mutinous  outburst  it 
cannot  excuse  it.  Brave  pilgrims  these!  "O  for  the 
fish  and  melons,"  they  cry,  "the  luscious  melons  and 
cucumbers  of  Egypt!" 

They  have  forgotten  the  whip  of  scorpions,  the  days 
of  weary  toil  in  the  brick-kilns,  and  !he  restless  nights 
when  they  were  wont  to  cry,  "  Would  God  it  were  morn- 
ing ! "  The  thought  that  they  are  journeying  to  "  a  land 
that  floweth  with  mi'k  and  honey"  no  longer  stimulates 
them;  the  vision  has  faded;  the  promises  are  naught. 
As  for  the  manna  which  has  fallen  about  their  feet, 
their  soul  loathes  "this  light  bread."  O  patient  God, 
how  long  wilt  Thou  bear  with  them  ? 

The  two  besetting  sins  of  Israel  were  murmuring 
and  lusting.  And  they  are  the  besetting  sins  of  God's 
people  at  this  day.  Has  not  the  Lord  brought  us  out  of 
bondage  with  a  mighty  hand  and  a  stretched  out  arm  ? 
Are  we  not  pilgrims  and  sojourners,  looking  for  a 
better  country,  even  an  heavenly,  and  a  city  which  hath 
foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God.^  Yet 
how  prone  we  are  to  entertain  presumptuous  thoughts 
and  arraign  the  appointed  course.  All  heaven  is  before 
us;  yet  we  murmur  because  of  inadequate  provision 
made  for  us  along  the  way.  We  murmur  at  our  light 
afflictions  which  are  but  for  a  moment  and  work  for  us 
a  far  more  exceeding  and  external  weight  of  glory. 
We  weary  of  angels'  food   and  long  for  the  sordid 


110  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

pleasures  of  the  world.  Better  the  leeks  and  onions  of 
Egypt  than  the  bread  that  comes  down  from  heaven! 
What  matters  it  that  the  Pillar  of  Cloud  goes  before  us 
and  that  we  have  tasted  water  from  the  living  Rock? 
Our  visions  of  glory  are  dimmed  by  our  tears  over  the 
commissariat!  Of  all  our  sacred  songs  there  is  none 
so  hard  to  sing  with  heart  and  understanding  as  this: 

Father,  whate'er  of  earthly  bliss 

Thy  sovereign  hand  denies, 
Accepted  at  Thy  throne  of  grace, 

Let  this  petition  rise: 

Give  me  a  calm,  a  thankful  heart. 

From  every  murmur  free; 
The  blessings  of  Thy  grace  impart. 

And  let  me  live  to  Thee. 

The  third  picture  is  of  a  carnival,  a  literal  feast  of 
flesh. 

The  lawless  desire  of  the  people  is  granted.  "  There 
went  forth  a  wind  from  the  Lord,  and  brought  quails 
from  the  sea,  and  let  them  fall  by  the  camp."  A 
miracle.'^  Aye:  just  as  every  wind  that  blows  goes 
forth  from  the  Lord.  It  is  not  unusual  even  now,  in 
the  season  of  the  early  flight,  to  see  multitudinous 
flocks  of  birds,  driven  helplessly  across  the  desert  and 
falling  on  exhausted  wings.  It  would  have  been  a 
miracle,  indeed,  had  God  withheld  the  quails  on  this 
occasion.  As  it  was,  the  desire  of  the  people  was 
granted  and  their  appetite  had  free  rein.  They  busied 
themselves  all  that  night  gathering  and  storing  flesh 


RENUNCIATION.  Ill 

which  many  of  them  were  destined  never  to  eat.  Flesh 
they  have  demanded  and  flesh  they  shall  have.  Showers 
of  flesh !  They  gorge  themselves  with  it.  They  are  sur- 
feited with  it.  Then  the  plague.  "  While  the  flesh  was 
yet  between  their  teeth,  ere  it  was  chewed,  the  wrath 
of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against  the  people  and  He 
smote  them."  The  wrath  of  the  Lord.'*  Yes,  pre- 
cisely as  He  ever  puts  His  Yea  and  Amen  upon  the  laws 
of  nature.  Plenty  and  the  plague  go  hand  in  hand. 
Gluttony  and  death.  Luxury  and  decay.  Is  it  not 
written  everywhere  in  the  history  of  nations  and  of 
men? 

The  ruling  passion,  be  it  what  it  will, 
The  ruling  passion  conquers  reason  still. 

The  wealth-seeker,  with  his  two  hands  like  the 
insatiable  mouth  of  the  horse-leech,  cries,"  Give!  Give! " 
His  eyes  turn  yellow  and  his  soul  is  jaundiced.  He 
knows  that  gold  gives  satiety  without  satisfaction: 
and  that  it  takes  wings  and  flies  away,  yet  he  keeps 
up  the  mad  pursuit  until  he  dies  of  the  plague ! 

The  same  is  true  of  all  sensual  desire.  The  volup- 
tuary gorges  himself  till  naught  but  ashes  Hngers  on 
his  lips.  The  tippler  drinks  until  the  habit  masters 
him;  drinks  until  his  eyes  are  red  and  his  flesh  sodden; 
drinks  until  he  reels  and  totters,  lost  to  shame;  drinks 
until  the  plague  slays  him! 

So  sordid  ambition,  unrestrained,  runs  its  course. 
The  lust  of  knowledge  makes  its  lamentation  on  this 


112  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

wise,  "Much  study  is  a  weariness  of  the  flesh."  The 
lust  of  power  has  naught  to  show  for  its  pains  but  a 
hollow  panegyric  and  a  faded  wreath.  Here  is  Alexan- 
der longing  for  more  worlds  to  conquer  and  dying  of 
fever  after  days  and  nights  of  drunken  revelry.  You 
may  thrust  him  aside  with  your  foot.  Dead  of  the 
plague ! 

The  last  of  the  episodes  referred  to  brings  us  to 
Kibroth-hattaavah.  "  God's  Acre  "  is  usually  a  place  of 
sacred  associations.  We  lay  memorial  flowers  upon 
the  mounds  and  lovingly  call  up  sweet  memories  of 
the  past.  But  here  at  Kibroth-hattaavah  there  are  only 
"graves  of  lust." 

Over  the  doorway  of  this  Necropolis  is  the  inscrip- 
tion, "Vanity  of  vanities."  Here  lie  the  victims  of  in- 
ordinate desire:  lust  of  the  flesh,  lust  of  the  eye,  pride 
of  life.  Here  is  the  tomb  of  that  rich  fool,  who  was 
crushed  under  the  weight  of  his  full  storehouses;  of 
Esau,  choked  by  his  mess  of  pottage;  of  Salome,  who 
danced  herself  to  dea  h;  of  Pilate,  "Caesar's  friend"; 
of  the  young  man,  who  "went  away  very  sorrowful 
because  he  was  very  rich";  of  Haman,  "hoist  with  his 
own  petard";  of  Lot's  wife,  ruined  by  her  love  of 
Sodom.  Here  are  two  graves  side  by  side  inscribed, 
"Ananias  and  Sapphira;  slain  for  lying  unto  God." 
Here  are  three  graves  marked,  "Korah,  Dathan  and 
Abiram;  swallowed  in  the  gulf  of  overweening  ambi- 
tion."   All  dead  of  the  plague!    Victims  of  self-indul- 


RENUNCIATION.  113 

Who  shall  be  held  responsible  ?  It  is  the  ordinance 
of  nature,  on  which  the  divine  decree  has  placed  its 
sanction.  The  record  runs  thus,  "  Let  no  man  say  when 
he  is  tempted,  I  am  tempted  of  God:  for  God  cannot 
be  tempted  with  evil,  neither  tempteth  He  any  man: 
but  every  man  is  tempted  when  he  is  drawn  away  of  his 
own  lust,  and  enticed.  Then  when  lust  hath  conceived, 
it  bringeth  forth  sin;  and  sin,  when  it  is  finished,  bring- 
eth  forth  death." 

What  is  the  lesson?  There  are  two  levels  of  life; 
to  wit,  the  high  level  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  low  level  of 
the  flesh.  As  it  is  written,  "They  that  are  after  the 
flesh  mind  the  things  of  the  flesh:  but  they  that  are 
after  the  Spirit,  the  things  of  the  Spirit.  For  the  mind 
of  the  flesh  is  death;  but  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  is  life 
and  peace;  because  the  mind  of  the  flesh  is  enmity 
against  God;  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God, 
neither  indeed  can  it  be.  So  then  they  that  are  in  the 
flesh  cannot  please  God." 

This  is  not  to  say  that  the  desires  of  the  flesh  are 
intrinsically  wrong.  By  the  ordinance  of  nature  we 
eat  and  drink :  it  is  only  our  over-eating  and  over-drink- 
ing that  bring  the  plague  upon  us.  We  are  bound  to 
seek  a  livelihood;  and  by  the  same  token  we  are  per- 
mitted to  delight  ourselves  "in  the  ways  of  our  heart 
and  in  the  sight  of  our  eyes."  But  when  we  seek  gold, 
pleasure  or  worldly  emolument  to  the  exclusion  of  bet- 
ter things,  we  lose  our  divine  heritage  and  provoke  the 
wrath  of  God.    An  eagle,  in  pursuit  of  food,  pounced 


114  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

upon  a  carcass  on  a  floe  of  floating  ice;  so  far  so  good; 
but  it  tarried  so  long  at  the  banquet  that  its  wings 
were  frozen  fast  and  death  overtook  it.  Man  has  a 
soul  to  soar  like  the  eagle;  and  like  the  eagle  he  must 
eat  to  live.  Woe  to  him  who  forgets  his  heavenward 
flight  in  the  absorbing  pursuit  of  lower  things! 

Think  of  the  loss  involved  in  it.  The  loss  of  Canaan 
for  a  mess  of  quails!  All  these  Israelites  were,  for 
their  murmuring  and  lusting,  shut  out  of  the  Land 
of  Promise.  Not  all  were  buried  at  Kibroth-hattaavah; 
their  graves  lay  all  along  the  way.  Moses  himself 
did  not  escape  the  stern  decree.  He  climbed  the  moun- 
tain and  looked  over  on  the  "sweet  fields  beyond  the 
sweUing  flood  "  but  was  not  permitted  to  enter  in. 

O  lonely  tomb  in  Moab's  land 

On  dark  Beth-peor's  hill. 

Speak  to  these  curious  hearts  of  ours 

And  teach  them  to  be  still! 

God  has  His  mysteries  of  grace. 

Ways  that  we  cannot  tell; 

He  hides  them  deep,  like  the  secret  sleep 

Of  him  He  loved  so  well. 

But  the  life  of  the  Spirit!  Ah,  this  is  worthy  of 
men  divinely  born  and  destined  to  the  heritage  of  kings. 
V^  It  means  something  to  have  come  out  of  Egypt;  to 
have  left  the  land  of  flesh-pots  and  of  leeks  and  onions 
and  cucumbers;  to  have  left  the  orgies  of  the  golden 
calf  as  well  as  of  the  thankless  toil  in  the  brick -yards. 
It  means  something  to  have  the  great  promise  of  a  bet- 


RENUNCIATION.  115 

ter  country  where  every  man  shall  dwell  in  peace  under 
his  own  vine  and  fig-tree. 

And  incidentally,  it  means  struggle  all  along  the 
way;  because  the  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit.  "O 
wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of 
the  body  of  this  death  ?'''  The  old  nature  is  in  perpetual 
conflict  with  the  new;  the  old  man  in  close  grapple 
with  "the  new  man  in  Christ  Jesus."  Our  constant 
temptation  is  to  look  backward  and  to  be  drawn  again 
into  the  swirl  of  passionate  and  inordinate  desire.  It 
is  like  the  terrible  pull  of  the  "sea-puss,"  which  drags 
the  boldest  swimmer  into  the  danger  of  a  resistless  tide. 
Lust  of  the  flesh,  lust  of  the  eye  and  pride  of  life!  O 
let  us  take  heed  and  beware  of  it. 

In  the  end  all  ambitions  come  to  naught  except  one, 
that  is,  the  desire  to  live  for  God.  And  to  this  we  are 
covenanted,  as  His  people.  In  our  exodus  from  the 
former  life  which  we  lived  in  the  flesh  we  have  paused 
at  the  flaming  mountain  and  heard  the  voice,  "  I  am  the 
Lord  thy  God  which  have  brought  thee  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage;  thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  before  me! "  Self  is  the  Dagon  that 
ever  stands  up  against  God.  Hence  it  behooves  us 
to  put  down  Self,  Self-will,  Self-indulgence,  Self -wor- 
ship, and  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  devotion  to  God. 

It  is  related  of  Lady  Huntington  that,  after  spend- 
ing years  in  worldly  pursuits  and  pleasures,  oblivious  of 
all  higher  demands  upon  her  time  and  energy,  she 
seemed  to  hear,  in  attendance  on  a  royal  function,  under 


116  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

the  glittering  lights  and  amid  the  confused  sounds  of 
laughter,  the  voice  of  her  mother  teaching  her  again 
from  the  Shorter  Catechism,  "  What  is  the  chief  end  of 
man? — The  chief  end  of  man  is  to  glorify  God";  and 
then  and  there  she  changed  the  manner  of  her  life. 

But  is  it  possible  to  be  in  the  world  yet  not  of  it; 
to  live  to  the  Spirit,  to  deny  self  and  glorify  God? 
Let  Paul  answer.  He  was  of  noble  birth  and  liberal 
education,  a  member  of  the  highest  court  of  Israel  with 
a  boundless  outlook  of  honorable  promotion.  But  when 
he  met  Jesus  on  the  Damascus  highway,  he  stood  for  a 
while  at  the  gateway  of  Kibroth-hattaavah,  and  there 
buried  all.  In  that  graveyard  he  left  a  mausoleum 
bearing  the  legend,  "  Here  lies  Saul  of  Tarsus  ";  and  the 
man  who  went  upon  his  way,  was  a  new  man,  Paul  the 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ.     Hear  him: 

"  If  any  other  man  thinketh  that  he  hath  whereof  he 
might  trust  in  the  flesh,  I  more:  but  what  things  were 
gain  to  me,  those  I  counted  loss  for  Christ.  Yea, 
doubtless,  and  I  count  all  things  but  loss,  for  the  excell- 
ency of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord:  for 
whom  I  have  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things,  and  do 
count  them  but  dung ;  that  I  may  win  Christ,  and  be 
found  in  Him,  not  having  mine  own  righteousness, 
which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is  through  the  faith 
of  Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith: 
that  I  may  know  him,  and  the  power  of  His  resurrection 
and  the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings,  being  made  con- 
formable unto  His  death:    if  by  any  means  I  might 


RENUNCIATION.  117 

attain  unto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  Not  as  though 
I  had  already  attained,  either  were  already  perfect; 
but  I  follow  after,  if  that  I  may  apprehend  that  for 
which  also  I  am  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus.  Brethren, 
I  count  not  myself  to  have  apprehended:  but  this  one 
thing  I  do;  forgetting  those  things  which  are  behind 
(farewell  to  the  lusts  of  the  flesh!)  and  reaching  forth 
unto  those  things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the 
mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus!" 

Is  it  possible.?  Ah,  yes!  Egypt  behind,  Canaan 
before,  and  the  graves  of  lust  along  the  way.  Bury 
them  all,  beloved,  till  nothing  is  left  but  the  ambition 
to  glorify  God.  His  we  are  and  Him  we  serve.  "  If  ye 
then  be  risen  with  Christ,  seek  those  things  which  are 
above,  where  Christ  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God." 


NON-CONFORMITY 

THE   TRANSFIGURED    LIFE. 

"I  beseech  you  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye  pro- 
sent  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acce[)table  unto  God,  which  is 
your  reasonable  service.  And  be  not  conformed  to  this  world;  but  be  ye 
transformed  (transfigured)  by  the  renewing  of  your  mind,  that  ye  may 
prove  what  is  that  good,  and  acceptable,  and  perfect  will  of  God."  Ro- 
mans  12:  1,  2. 

We  are  accustomed  to  think  of  Paul  as  a  philosopher, 
a  theologian,  a  logician  and  a  dialectician;  but  he  was 
more  than  that ;  he  was  an  expert  rhetorician  or  master 
of  words. 

"Words  are  things,"  said  Mirabeau;  and  he  knew 
whereof  he  spoke,  for  it  was  he  who  thundered  from  the 
Tribune  with  matchless  power  in  behalf  of  the  Third 
Estate.  His  aphorism  was  repeated  by  Lord  Byron, 
"  Words  are  things ;  a  drop  of  ink  falling,  like  dew,  upon 
a  thought  makes  thousands  think." 

In  approaching  our  subject,  we  enter  upon  a  study  of 
words.  Paul's  proposition  is  the  Secret  of  a  Successful 
Life ;  and  we  shall  observe  how  his  words  fall  into  their 
appropriate  places  like  the  stones  in  an  arched  gateway. 

The  key-stone  of  his  argument  is  the  word  "  Sacrifice." 

This  is  the  initial  word  in  the  Art  of  Christian  Living ; 
for  the  life  of  a  Christian  begins  with  surrender,  or  self- 
immolation;  as  Jesus  said,  "If  any  man  would  come 
after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  take  up  his  cross  and  fol- 
low me." 

(118) 


NON-CONFORMITY.  119 

The  word  "body"  is  used  here  by  Paul  in  its 
most  comprehensive  sense;  being  suggested  by  the  simil- 
itude of  the  altar,  on  which  the  body  of  the  sacrificial  vic- 
tim was  laid.    It  is  intended  to  include  the  whole  man. 

The  ground  of  this  self-immolation  is  contained  in  the 
word  "  reasonable, "  literally,  logical.  A  man  is  not  asked 
to  follow  Christ  without  weighing  the  matter  'pro  and 
contra.  "Come  now,  let  us  reason  together,  saith  the 
Lord."  And  the  rationale  of  the  demand  is  found  in  a 
just  consideration  of  "  the  mercies  of  God." 

Then  follows  the  gist  of  the  argument;  to  wit,  "that 
ye  be  not  conformed  to  this  world,  but  transformed  by 
the  renewing  of  your  mind;  that  ye  may  prove  what  is 
that  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God." 

The   pivotal   word   here   is   "world." 

By  this  we  are  not  to  understand  the  world  of  nature, 
of  course;  since  a  thoughtful  man  "  looks  through  nature 
up  to  nature's  God."  Nor  does  it  mean  the  world  of 
affairs ;  since  Jesus  says  in  His  sacerdotal  prayer, "  I  pray 
not  that  Tho«  shouldest  take  them  out  of  the  world"; 
and  again  in  describing  His  disciples,  "A  city  set  on  a 
hill  cannot  be  hid  ";  and  again,  "  Let  your  light  so  shine 
before  men  that  they  may  see  your  good  works  and 
glorify  God."  The  reference  is  to  that  self -centered 
world  in  which  men  and  women,  made  in  God's  likeness, 
are  absorbed  in  self-interest  rather  than  in  the  glory  of 
God.  The  great  sin  of  the  world  is  selfishness,  or,  self- 
will;  which  is  manifested  in  three  specific  forms;  to  wit, 
"  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye  and  the  pride  of 


120  THE    EVOLUTION    OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

life."  The  evil  is  not  in  the  flesh,  but  in  fleshliness  or 
sensuality.  The  evil  is  not  in  the  eye,  but  in  its  inordi- 
nate desire  as  seen  in  lust,  avarice,  covetousness  and 
sordid  ambition.  The  evil  is  not  in  life,  only  in  the  vain- 
glorious conceit  which  rests  on  its  adventitious  condi- 
tions and  separates  the  soul  from  God. 

We  come  now  to  Paul's  statement  of  our  relation  to 
this  self -centered  world.  This  is  suggested  in  two  words 
the  first  of  which  is  "Conformity." 

To  be  conformed  to  this  world  is  simply  to  fall  in 
with  its  way  of  thinking  and  doing.  It  is  to  be  "  taken 
up  in  the  lips  of  talkers  "  and  to  "  run  with  the  multitude 
to  do  evil."  It  is  to  adjust  one's  self  to  public  opinion 
with  a  \'iew  less  to  duty  than  to  expediency;  like  the 
royal  chaplain  who  held  office  under  four  reigns  and  so 
veered  with  the  vicissitudes  of  politics  that  he  could 
boast: 

And  this  is  right,  I  will  maintain, 

Whatever  men  may  say,  sir. 
That  whatsoever  king  may  reign. 

Still  I'll  be  Vicar  of  Bray,  sir. 

The  Non-conformist  on  the  other  hand  is  one  who 
does  his  own  thinking,  subject  only  to  divine  authority. 
He  is  "in  the  world  but  not  of  it."  He  regards  himself 
not  as  a  citizen  of  this  world  but  as  a  pilgrim  and  sojourn- 
er, hke  Abraham  who  dwelt  in  tents,  "looking  for  a 
better  country  even  an  heavenly  and  for  a  city  that  hath 
foundations  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God." 

But  the  word  which  Paul  uses  as  the  antithesis  of 


NON-CONFORMITY.  121 

conformity  is  not  non-conformity  but  "Transforma- 
tion," literally,  31  etamor pilosis. 

We  shall  understand  this  word  best  by  observing 
that  it  is  the  very  one  used  in  connection  with  the  trans- 
figuration of  Christ.  In  our  case  the  process  is  radical 
and  revolutionary,  being  identical  with  that  of  which 
Jesus  said,  "  Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  except  a  man 
be  born  again  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God." 

But  how  is  this  vital  change  effected  ?  Paul  says  it 
is  by  "  the  renewing  of  your  mind. "  The  word  "  Mind  " 
is  here  used  comprehensively,  to  indicate  our  whole 
moral  nature,  as  when  we  say,  "  What  is  your  mind  ?  " 
meaning  what  is  your  disposition  or  inclination  toward 
any  particular  thing. 

It  involves  the  intellect,  in  the  necessity  of  the  case; 
since,  as  Paul  elsewhere  says,  "  The  natural  man  receiveth 
not  the  things  of  the  Spirit,  for  they  are  foolishness  unto 
him,  and  he  cannot  know  them,  because  they  are  spirit- 
ually discerned."  The  unrenewed  man  is  blind  to  any 
just  consideration  of  God  or  of  life  and  immortality  or 
of  moral  responsibility  or  of  any  other  of  the  great 
verities  of  the  spiritual  life. 

This  change  involves  the  conscience  also.  The  con- 
science of  an  unrenewed  man  is  like  the  deflected  needle 
of  a  compass ;  being  so  perverted  by  sinful  habit,  that  it 
no  longer  performs  its  normal  function  but  confuses  "  the 
worse  and  better  reason  ";  wherefore  it  is  not  enough  to 
say  of  any  one  that  he  is  a  conscientious  man,  unless  we 


122  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

have  reason  to  believe  that  his  conscience  has  been  recti- 
fied and  adjusted  to  the  mind  of  God 

A  good  deal  is  being  said,  particularly  in  England, 
about "  the  Nonconformist  Conscience  ";  a  phrase  coined 
in  derision,  but  full  of  noble  meaning.  The  conformist 
conscience  is  one  that  consults  expediency,  falls  in  with 
fashion,  explains  away  duty  and  coquets  with  sin.  The 
nonconformist  conscience  is  properly  one  that  adheres 
to  the  right  regardless  of  consequences.  It  is  a  Puritan 
conscience;  it  is  a  scrupulous  conscience;  it  is  con- 
science with  a  fine  edge.  It  hates  sin,  abhors  and  loathes 
it.  Its  principle  is  not  outward  avoidance  but  inward 
aversion.  It  shuns  casuistry  and  courts  obedience. 
The  three  youths  in  Babylon  spoke  as  nonconformists 
when,  despite  the  royal  edict,  they  said,  "Be  it  known 
unto  thee,  O  King,  that  we  will  not  serve  thy  gods  nor 
worship  the  golden  image  which  thou  hast  set  up!" 

The  contrast  between  the  conformist  and  non-con- 
formist may  be  observed  in  the  relative  attitudes  of 
Abraham  and  his  nephew  Lot  toward  the  sinful  life  of 
Sodom.  When  the  king  of  that  accursed  city  offered  to 
share  the  loot  of  battle  with  Abraham,  he  received  this 
answer,  "  I  have  lifted  up  my  hand  unto  the  Lord,  the 
possessor  of  heaven  and  earth,  that  I  will  not  take  from 
a  thread  even  to  a  shoe  lachet  of  anything  that  is  thine." 
But  Lot,  when  he  separated  from  Abraham,  "journeyed 
toward  the  East,  and  pitched  his  tent  toward  Sodom"; 
he  drew  a  little  nearer,  from  time  to  time,  until  passing 
through  the  gates  he  became  a  citizen;  and,  though  "  his 


NON-CONFORMITY.  123 

righteous  soul  was  vexed,"  he  dwelt  there  prosperously 
until  he  managed  to  escape,  "yet  so  as  by  fire." 

The  man  who  is  really  "transformed  by  the  renewing 
of  his  mind,"  has  an  ever-increasing  love  for  truth  and 
duty.  He  esteems  righteousness  for  its  own  sake  and 
hates  sin  because  it  is  essentially  hateful.  His  Hfe  is  a 
protest  against  whatsoever  worketh  abomination  or 
maketh  a  lie;  and  the  legend  on  his  shield  is,  "Touch 
not,  taste  not,  handle  not!" 

The  result  of  this  vital  change  is  thus  indicated, 
"That  ye  may  prove  what  is  that  good  and  acceptable 
and  perfect  will  of  God."  The  pivotal  word  here  is 
"Prove";  that  is,  certify  or  know  to  a  certainty. 

The  secret  of  the  higher  life  is  to  know  the  divine  pur- 
pose concerning  us  and  to  adjust  ourselves  to  it.  All  our 
mistakes  are  due  to  the  fact  that  we  are  at  cross  pur- 
poses with  God.  In  the  making  of  a  temple  it  is  impor- 
tant that  the  architect  and  the  builder  should  understand 
each  other  and  work  harmoniously,  else  the  result  will 
be  an  anomalous  structure.  The  word  for  character- 
building  in  the  Scriptures  is  "edification,"  literally, 
"temple  building."  God  is  the  architect  of  the  temple, 
we  the  builders.  It  is  necessary  to  success,  therefore, 
that  we  should  know  "  what  is  that  good  and  acceptable 
and  perfect  will  of  God." 

And  this  can  only  be  done  by  coming  into  vital  touch 
with  God.  In  the  account  of  the  transfiguration  of  Jesus 
it  is  written,  "  As  He  prayed,  the  fashion  of  His  counte- 
nance was  altered."    Prayer  is  communion  with  God. 


124  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

The  moment  a  man  really  touches  God  in  this  manner  he 
is  thrilled  through  and  through  with  the  divine  spark 
and  the  renewing  of  his  mind  is  an  accomplished  fact. 
Prayer  is  through  Christ.  In  other  words,  the  point  of 
contact  is  acceptance  of  Christ;  as  He  said,  "No  man 
cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me.'* 

But  what  is  our  personal  relation  to  this  matter? 
God  is  the  author  of  the  new  life,  yet  everything  depends 
on  us;  else  how  could  the  apostle  have  said,  "  I  beseech 
you,  brethren  ?"  In  the  current  philosophy  of  our  time 
a  great  deal  is  said  of  heredity  and  environment  as  the 
important  factors  of  character;  but  there  is  a  third  fac- 
tor, more  important  than  either;  to  wit,  volition.  Let 
a  man  say  from  his  inmost  heart,  "  I  will, "  and  he  makes 
himself  master  of  both  heredity  and  environment.  The 
root  of  the  whole  matter  is  choice,  and  that  rests  in  our 
sovereign  wills.  We  are  all  alike  victims  of  heredity  and 
creatures  of  circumstance;  in  this  respect  there  is  little 
or  no  difference  among  us.  But  let  a  man  hear  and  see 
God  in  Christ,  as  Paul  did  on  the  way  down  to  Damas- 
cus, and  answer,  "  What  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do  ?  "  and 
he  can  defy  all  his  forebears  and  prove  himself  superior 
to  all  adverse  conditions.  God  is  the  Arbiter  of  human 
fortune,  but  He  perpetually  stands  sponsor  for  the  man 
who  stands  with  Him. 

The  duty  of  nonconformity  as  here  set  forth  rests 
upon  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  Let  no  one  delude 
himself  with  the  idea  that  by  avoiding  an  open  con- 
fession of  Christ  he  avoids  in  any  measure  the  stern 


NON-CONFORMITY.  1^5 

requirements  of  duty.  Nevertheless,  the  special  appeal 
is  to  those  who  have  entered  into  covenant  with  Christ. 
They  are  set  apart  as  "  a  peculiar  people. "  "  Come  out 
from  the  world  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord." 
The  issue  is  clearly  made  between  "  the  fashion  of  this 
world  "  and  "  that  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect  will 
of  God." 

We  who  have  named  the  name  of  Christ  are  to  be  in 
the  world  but  not  of  it.  Our  citizenship  is  in  heaven. 
"  If  ye  then  be  risen  with  Christ,  seek  those  things  which 
are  above  where  Christ  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God. " 

We  gain  nothing  by  adjusting  ourselves  to  the  world's 
way  of  thinking  and  doing  things.  He  is  an  incompetent 
writing-master  who  sets  a  poor  copy  before  a  stupid 
pupil  in  order  to  please  him.  The  important  matter  is 
to  live  Hke  Enoch  who  "had  this  testimony,  that  he 
pleased  God."  We  are  compassed  about  by  witnesses 
who  take  knowledge  of  Christ  as  they  observe  His  graces 
in  us.  "Wherefore,  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the 
mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present  yourselves  a  living  sacri- 
fice, holy,  acceptable  unto  God,  which  is  your  reason- 
able service.  And  be  not  conformed  to  this  world;  but 
be  ye  transfigured  by  the  renewing  of  your  moral  nature, 
that  ye  may  certify  unto  yourselves  and  unto  the  world 
what  is  that  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of 
God." 


IMITATIO  CHRISTI. 

THE   STATURE    OF   A    MAN. 

"And  He  gave  some  to  be  apostles;  and  some,  prophets;  and  some,  evan- 
gelists; and  some,  pastors  and  teachers;  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints, 
unto  the  work  of  ministering,  unto  the  building  up  of  the  body  of  Christ: 
till  we  all  attain  unto  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son 
of  God,  unto  a  fullgrown  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness 
of  Christ."     Ephesians  4:  11-13   (R.   V.). 

It  is  said  that  when  Eve  went  out  of  the  Garden 
of  Eden  she  took  with  her  two  jflowers,  Memory  and 
Hope,  as  mementoes  of  her  lost  happiness.  One  of  the 
proofs  of  our  superiority  to  the  lower  orders  of  creation 
is  the  fact  that  we  are  dimly  sensible  of  something 
that  has  passed  out  of  our  lives.  Plato  spoke  of  this 
as  *'the  rustling  of  the  wings  of  a  preexistent  state." 
It  was  interpreted  by  Wordsworth  in  his  Intimations 
of  Immortality  in  the  same  manner: 

Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting; 

The  soul  that  rises  with  us,  our  life's  star. 

Hath  had  elsewhere  its  setting 

And  Cometh  from  afar. 

Not  in  entire  forgetfulness. 

And  not  in  utter  nakedness, 

But  trailing  clouds  of  glory  do  we  come 

From  God,  who  is  our  home. 

But  this  vague  reminiscence  within  us  need  not  be 
accounted  for  by  unfounded  speculations  as  to  a  pre- 

(126) 


IMITATIO    CHRISTI.  127 

existent  state;  it  is  simply  the  indwelling  sense  of  a 
lost  inheritance,  lost  here  and  now.  And  we  shall 
spend  our  time  most  profitably,  not  in  looking  back- 
ward, even  so  far  as  this  Paradise  Lost,  but  in  looking 
forward  to  a  Paradise  Regained  through  Christ,  in 
the  "salvation  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last  time." 
The  flower  to  wear  upon  our  hearts  is  not  memory 
but  hope.  We  are  chiefly  concerned  not  with  what  we 
have  been  but  with  what  we  may  be.  The  longings 
and  aspirations  that  arise  within  us  are  not  the  "rust- 
ling of  the  wings"  of  a  phoenix  that  lives  again  only 
in  fable,  but  rather  of  the  wings  of  an  eagle,  on  which 
lie  earnest  soul  mounts  up  to  renew  its  youth  in  fellow- 
ship with  God  (Is.  40:  31). 

Rise,  my  soul,  and  stretch  thy  wings. 
Thy  better  portion  trace; 
Rise  from  transitory  things 
Toward  heaven,  thy  native  place! 

What  is  it  we  want.^  We  are  not  reaching  forth 
after  the  unattainable.  We  are  not  as  "  children  cry- 
ing in  the  night,  and  with  no  language  but  a  cry."  We 
want  what  we  have  lost.  We  were  created  in  the 
likeness  of  God  and  sin  has  robbed  us  of  our  birthright. 
We  want  our  forfeited  inheritance.  We  want  God- 
likeness  again.  We  want  character.  Blessed  aspira- 
tions these!  We  are  weary  of  our  minority  and  want 
the  fulness  of  our  normal  stature.  We  want  to  be 
"fuUgrown  men." 

I.    To  this  end  we  must  have  an  Ideal  of  Manhood. 


128  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

We  have  indeed  an  intuitive  sense  of  the  three  quali- 
ties that  com}>ine  to  make  it. 

Firsty  the  Fullgrown  Man  must  he  a  Moralist. 

This  means  more  than  that  he  should  discourse  on 
morals;  anybody  can  do  that.  Socrates  had  much  to 
say  about  personal  purity  while  he  was  dancing  attend- 
ance on  Aspasia,  the  courtesan.  A  true  man  will 
exemplify  his  profession.  He  must  "  bring  the  bottom 
of  his  life  up  to  the  top  of  his  light."  In  other  words  he 
must  keep  himself  free  from  sin.  A  mere  cleansing  of 
the  outside  of  the  platter  will  not  answer:  There  must 
be  "no  fault  in  him  at  all." 

Second,  he  must  be  a  Philanthropist. 

An  Anchorite,  striving  for  self-mastery,  and  self- 
culture  alone,  will  not  fill  the  bill.  He  must  be  forgetful 
of  self  in  his  love  for  his  fellow  men.    For 

Unless  he  can  erect  himself  above  himself 
How  poor  a  thing  is  man! 

He  must  take  note  of  the  suffering  multitude  and  hear 
and  answer  its  cry  for  help.  He  must,  in  a  spirit  of 
self-abnegation,  "  do  good  as  he  has  opportunity  unto  all 
men." 

Third,  he  must  he  a  Theist. 

This  is  not  merely  to  repeat  the  creed,  "  I  believe  in 
God  the  Father  Almighty";  but  to  "practise  the 
presence  of  God."  It  is  so  to  apprehend  God  that  He 
shall  touch  our  life  at  every  point  in  its  circumference; 
it  is  to  be  constantly  in  vital  touch  with  Him. 


IMITATIO    CHRISTI.  129 

II,  But  we  must  go  further  than  this;  an  Ideal  is 
more  than  an  Idea. 

The  latter  is  a  mental  image;  the  former  is  that 
image  made  objective  and  visible.  It  is  the  ideal  and 
not  the  idea  that  serves  for  practical  uses. 

They  are  making  statuary  by  machinery  in  these 
days;  but  the  machine  can  only  copy.  It  can  take  an 
original  and  make  any  number  of  replicas.  We  too 
can  make  a  replica  of  Manhood  if  we  have  a  model. 
But  where  shall  we  find  it  ? 

Here  begins  the  noble  quest.  Where  is  the  full- 
grown  man?  Not  certainly  in  the  crowd  about  us. 
The  best  we  ever  knew  was  not  immaculate.  There 
is  none  that  doeth  good,  no,  not  one!  "For  there  is  no 
difference;  for  all  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the 
glory  of  God." 

In  history,  then  ?  Call  the  roll  and  let  the  worthies 
answer  for  themselves.  Greatness  is  not  goodness.  It 
is  written  of  Csesar, 

His  life  was  gentle;    and  the  elements 

So  mix'd  in  him  that  Nature  might  stand  up 

And  say  to  all  the  world,  This  was  a  man! 

Yet  Csesar,  as  "  all  the  world  "  knows,  was  notoriously 
lacking  in  all  the  three  qualities  which  constitute  char- 
acter. Whatever  else  he  had,  these  "elements"  were 
not "  mixed  in  him." 

Shall  we  then  turn  to  the  Philosophers?  Plato 
framed  an  ideal  and  called  it  Dikaios,  the  Just  One.  It 
was  as  cold  as  a  marble  image.     Proud,  self-poised. 


130  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

indifferent  alike  to  good  and  evil,  the  Just  One  had  no 
warm  blood  stirring  at  his  heart,  but  sat  in  godlike  re- 
pose above  the  fret  and  worry  of  common  life. 

Aristotle  also  painted  an  Ideal,  called  Megalopsuchos, 
the  High-minded  One;  in  whom  were  combined  all 
gracious  qualities  of  mind  and  conscience,  as  he  con- 
ceived them,  with  a  heart  "  shriveled  to  the  dimensions 
of  a  betel  nut." 

Seneca  was  scarcely  more  successful.  His  Ideal, 
Sophos,  the  Wise  One,  was  a  pompous  abstraction,  at 
once  ambitious  and  sterile;  intrepid  in  danger,  free 
from  passion,  happy  in  adversity,  calm  in  storm;  was 
master  of  the  world  only  because  he  was  master  of 
himself  and  equal  with  God.  Well  might  Bossuet  ex- 
claim as  he  read  of  these  chimerical  perfections,  "O 
maxims  truly  pompous!  O  affected  insensibility!  O 
false  and  imaginary  wisdom,  which  fancies  itself  strong 
because  it  is  hard,  and  generous  because  is  it  puffed 
up!" 

III.  Shall  we  then  abandon  our  quest  ?  No,  we  turn 
to  the  pages  of  an  Old  Book  and  cry.  Eureka!  We  have 
found  here  the  Ideal  Man. 

This  book  is  divided  into  two  volumes.  At  the 
opening  of  the  first,  the  Old  Testament,  we  come  upon 
the  mention  of  one  called  "The  Seed  of  Woman,"  who 
is  destined  to  extirpate  evil  and  establish  righteousness 
on  earth.  As  the  narrative  proceeds  we  find  Him  every- 
where, and  always  as  the  Perfect  One.  All  virtues, 
negative  and  positive,  meet  in  Him.     The  dim,  vague 


IMITATIO    CHRISTI.  131 

Figure  marches  on,  through  chronicle  and  prophecy, 
making  war  on  the  serpent  and  his  brood  and  leading 
forward  to  the  Golden  Age.  Here  are  other  worthies, 
Abraham  and  Moses  and  David  and  Solomon,  a  mighty 
procession ;  but  listen  at  their  closed  doors  and  you  will 
ever  hear  the  cry,  "Have  mercy,  for  I  have  sinned!" 
But  there  is  no  joint  in  the  harness  of  the  Perfect  One. 
And  back  of  all  the  dramatis  personse,  this  "Seed  of 
Woman,"  like  Choragos  in  the  Greek  drama,  speaks 
ever,  as  he  nears  the  appointed  time,  "  Coming !  Com- 
ingi" 

We  open  the  other  volume,  and,  behold,  He  is  here ! 
His  advent  as  a  living  man  of  flesh  and  blood  is  heralded 
by  angels  singing,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest !  Peace 
on  earth,  good  will  to  men ! "  What  shall  He  be  named  ? 
"Son  of  man."  The  Seed  of  Woman,  indeed;  but  Son 
of  man  because  He  is  destined  to  stand  henceforth  as  the 
historic  Ideal  of  Manhood,  the  Representative  Man. 

But  does  He  meet  the  condition  of  our  Ideal  ?  Ab- 
solutely.   Let  us  see: 

FirsU  He  is  a  Moralist:  He  speaks  of  righteousness 
and  in  Himself  illustrates  it.  The  air  about  Him  is  full 
of  the  miasm  of  sin;  it  blows  hot  with  human  passion 
as  the  winds  that  sweep  the  Arabian  desert.  But  He 
inhales  no  miasm,  and  the  sirocco  does  not  scorch  His 
naked  breast. 

The  manHest  of  attributes  is  purity,  whiteness  of 
soul.  The  Romans  had  but  one  word,  "virtus,"  to  ex- 
press chastity  and  courage.    Kn  impure  man  is  as  much 


182  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

a  coward  as  one  who  runs  in  battle.  Therefore  it  is 
written  (I  Pet.  2:11),  "Dearly  beloved,  abstain  from 
fleshly  lusts,  which  war  against  the  soul,"  that  is, 
against  our  higher  and  nobler  part.  And  again,  (Titus 
2:15),  "Let  no  man  despise  thee."  There  is  nothing 
so  despicable  in  human  nature  as  the  taint  of  sin.  And, 
alas!  we  are  all  tainted.  The  divine  Word  sets  before 
us  a  high  standard  of  character,  which,  with  our  best 
endeavor,  we  cannot  reach.    lago  asks, 

Who  has  a  breast  so  pure 

But  some  uncleanly  apprehensions 

Keep  leets  and  law-days? 

And  the  Nurse  protests  to  Juliet, 

There's  no  trust 

No  faith,  no  honesty  in  men;   all  perjured. 

All  forsworn,  all  naught,  all  dissemblers. 

But,  however  we  may  contemn  ourselves  and  our 
fellows,  here  is  One  perfect  in  every  lineament;  clear- 
eyed,  open-browed,  the  temple  of  a  soul  unsoiled.  There 
is  no  flaw  in  the  picture.  It  sets  forth  virtue  as  the 
chief  est  thing;  not  a  pharisaic  virtue,  not  a  mere  ex- 
ternal cleansing,  but  purity  through  and  through,  puri- 
ty of  heart  shining  forth  in  a  blameless  life. 

Hear  His  challenge :  "  Who  layeth  anything  to  my 
charge?"  Is  there  any  answer?  Let  Judas  speak: 
"I  have  betrayed  innocent  blood!"  Let  Pilate  speak, 
who  sat  in  judgment  on  Him:  "Behold  the  man!  I 
find  no  fault  in  him  at  all."    Let  the  centurion  speak. 


IMITATIO   CHRISTI.  133 

who  had  charge  of  His  execution:  "Verily,  this  was  a 
righteous  man." 

A  volume  might  be  filled  with  the  testimony  of 
modern  infidels  to  the  same  purport.  "  Christ  unites  in 
Himself,"  writes  Theodore  Parker,  "the  sublimest  pre- 
cepts and  divinest  practices,  thus  more  than  realizing 
the  dream  of  prophets  and  sages ;  He  rises  free  from  all 
prejudice  and  gives  full  range  to  the  Spirit  of  God  in  His 
breast;  He  sets  aside  the  forms  of  law,  puts  aside  its 
rabbis ;  and  pours  out  a  doctrine  beautiful  as  the  light, 
sublime  as  heaven,  and  true  as  God. " 

Second,  Jesus  was  a  Philanthropist 

He  was  ever  thinking  of  others.  His  self-forgetfulness 
was  perfect.  In  His  life  of  kindness  He  never  forgot  but 
one  person  on  earth ;  to  wit,  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  In  Him 
alone  of  mortal  men. 

Love  took  up  the  harp  of  life 

And  smote  on  all  its  chords  with  might. 

Smote  the  chord  of  Self,  that,  trembling. 
Passed  in  music  out  of  sight. 

His  biography  is  written  in  this  brief  monograph :  "  He 
went  about  doing  good."  He  healed  the  sick,  com- 
forted the  sorrowing,  opened  His  arms  to  the  little 
people,  championed  the  oppressed,  pointed  the  sinner 
to  salvation  and  did  good  as  He  had  opportunity  unto 
all  men.  He  was  just  to  the  unjust,  and  courteous  to 
those  who  despitef  ully  used  Him. 

The  best  of  men  that  e  'er  wore  earth  about  Him. 


134  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

Was  a  sufferer,  a  calm,  meek,  patient,  loving  spirit. 
The  first  true  Gentleman  that  ever  breathed. 

No  other  man  ever  knew  so  much  about  God,  or  so 
constantly  "practised  the  presence  of  God."  His 
relation  to  His  Father  was  so  vital  and  Their  com- 
munion so  uninterrupted  that  Jesus  could  say,  "I  and 
my  Father  are  one."  His  will  was  In  perfect  harmony 
with  His  Father's.  The  glory  of  the  Father  was  the  all- 
absorbing  purpose  of  the  Son  (John  17:  4);  so  that  for 
Him  to  live  was  God  living  in  Him. 

In  Kenan's  "Life  of  Jesus"  occur  these  striking 
words,  "Jesus  had  no  visions;  God  did  not  speak  to 
Him  from  without;  God  was  in  Him  and  He  was  with 
God.  He  lived  in  the  divine  bosom  by  uninterrupted 
converse.  He  understood  God  without  the  need  of 
thunder  and  burning  bush.  He  believed  Himself  to  be 
in  direct  communion  with  God;  He  believed  Himself 
the  veritable  Son  of  God.  The  highest  consciousness  of 
Deity  that  ever  existed  in  the  breast  of  humanity  was 
that  of  Jesus  Christ." 

IV.  If  these  things  are  so,  the  Imitation  of  Jesus 
should  be  the  supreme  business  of  every  one  who  de- 
sires to  attain  unto  the  stature  of  a  FuUgrown  Man. 

Here  is  the  secret  of  a  wholly  virtuous  life.  It  begins 
with  faith  in  Jesus  as  a  prerequisite  to  the  forgiveness 
of  sins.  The  soul,  thus  freed  from  its  frightful  handicap 
of  overhanging  doom,  is  set  at  liberty  to  pursue  the  path 
of  righteousness.  All  the  rest  is  "looking  unto  Jesus" 
and  following  in  His  steps. 


IMITATIO    CHRISTI.  135 

A  true  Christian  keeps  his  eyes  fixed  on  Christ  as 
his  Ideal  of  Character,  and  earnestly  strives  to  be  like 
Him, 

To  this  end  he  must,  before  he  is  through  with  it, 
acquire  a  virtue  which  is,  as  Chalmers  says,  "not 
abstinence  from  outward  deeds  of  profligacy  alone, 
not  a  mere  recoil  from  impurity  in  the  thought;  but  a 
quick  and  sensitive  delicacy  to  which  the  very  concep- 
tion of  evil  is  offensive ;  a  virtue  which  has  its  residence 
within,  taking  guardianship  of  the  heart  as  of  a  citadel 
or  inviolate  sanctuary,  in  which  no  wrong  or  worthless 
imagination  is  permitted  to  dwell;  not  purity  of  action 
simply,  but  an  exalted  purity  of  heart — the  ethereal 
purity  of  the  third  heaven,  which,  if  it  be  once  settled 
in  the  heart,  brings  the  untroubled  serenity  of  heaven 
along  with  it." 

The  true  Christian  seeks  also  to  copy  the  Philan- 
thropy of  Jesus. 

He  recognizes  the  fact  that  he  lives  not  to  himself 
alone  but  sustains  a  relation  of  responsibility  to  his 
fellow  men.  He  repudiates  the  selfish  philosophy  of 
Cain  which  asks,  "Am  I  my  brother's  keeper .?"  He 
has  eyes  to  see,  a  heart  to  pity  and  hands  to  help  those 
who  have  been  overcome  with  the  heat  and  burden  of 
the  day,  or  who,  falling  among  thieves,  have  been 
stripped  and  robbed  and  left  for  dead  along  the  Bloody 
Way. 

At  this  point  the  Scriptural  idea  of  manhood  is  seen 
to  be  incomparably   above  that  of  the  philosophers. 


136  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

Plato's  "Just  one"  and  Aristotle's  "High-minded  one" 
and  Seneca's  "  Wise  one  "  were  all  alike  in  making  self- 
culture  the  chief  end  of  life;  but  the  perfect  Man  of 
the  Scriptures  has  a  virtue  which  spends  itself  for 
others.  Never  were  truer  words  than  those  of  Spen- 
ser's Shepherd, 

Good  is  no  good  but  if  it  be  spend; 
God  giveth  good  for  none  other  end. 

This  sort  of  manhood  has  a  vital  place  in  the  definition 
of  true  religion;  which  is  "to  visit  the  fatherless  and 
widows  in  their  affliction,"  as  well  as  "to  keep  oneself 
unspotted  from  the  world." 

The  first  of  prudential  maxims  is,  "Work  out  your 
own  salvation";  and  the  second  is  like  unto  it,  because 
it  makes  one's  own  salvation  sweeter  and  more  glorious, 
"  Go  ye  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges  and  compel 
them  to  come  in."  Indeed  only  thus  can  a  man  work 
out  his  own  salvation.  The  higher  life  may  begin  with 
a  prudential  impulse;  but  the  first  heavenward  step  is 
over  the  threshold  of  self,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  journey 
is  between  couches  of  the  sick  and  the  outstretched 
hands  of  beggars.  A  man  who,  keeping  himself  pure 
and  honest  and  outwardly  irreproachable,  is  Hving  to 
get  rich  or  to  enjoy  himself,  may  be  a  very  respectable 
pagan,  but  the  East  is  not  further  from  the  West  than 
he  from  the  Christian  standard  of  character.  He  is  of 
no  account  in  the  great  brotherhood.  He  is  a  wild 
olive  in  a  trackless  desert,  whereas  he  should  be  as  a 


IMITATIO    CHRISTI  137 

fruit-laden  tree  by  the  roadside,  satisfying  the  hunger 
of  wayfaring  men. 

But  the  crowning  grace  of  the  Perfect  One  is  De- 
votion to  God. 

This,  as  Saint  Bernard  said,  is  janitor  animae,  the 
soul's  keeper.  No  Abou  ben  Adhem,  compassionate 
toward  his  fellows  while  oblivious  of  the  Most  High,  can 
meet  the  requirement.  God  must  be  writ  large  in  the 
story  of  this  Fullgrown  Man.  God  must  be  the  focal 
point  of  all  his  energies.  God  must  occupy  in  his 
experience  the  place  which  the  law  of  attraction  holds 
in  the  visible  universe,  holding  every  thought  and 
purpose  in  its  appointed  place.  He  must  believe  that 
God  is  and  that  He  is  the  rewarder  of  all  them  that 
diligently  seek  Him.  His  face  must  shine  with  a  con- 
stant glory  of  communion,  like  the  face  of  Moses  when 
he  came  from  his  interview  with  God. 

Is  it  possible  to  attain  to  this  ideal  ?  Aye !  In  "the 
unity  of  the  faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of 
God,"  we  shall  come  unto  "a  fullgrown  man,  unto  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ." 

What  ?  Here  and  now  ?  O  no !  Eternity  is  before 
us  The  present  life  is  one  of  earnest  striving,  with  all 
the  forces  of  heredity  and  environment  against  us.  The 
striving  begins  when  a  man,  placing  his  hand  in  Christ's, 
takes  Him  as  Saviour  and  Friend.  At  death  the  handi- 
cap of  sin  is  removed,  like  fetters  from  a  prisoner  coming 
forth  into  freedom.  This  is  the  final  Enabling  Act. 
After  that,  eternity  is  ours  for  growth  and  development. 


138  THE   EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

"We  all  with  open  face  beholding,  as  in  aglass,  the  glory 
of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory 
to  glory  as  by  the  Spirit  of  God  "  (II  Cor.  3:  18).  Who 
shall  paint  the  outlook  ?  "  Now  are  we  the  sons  of  God 
and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be."  But 
Christ,  the  Ideal,  will  still  and  forever  beckon  us  on  to 
higher  and  better  things.  "We  know  that  when  He 
shall  appear  we  shall  be  like  Him ;  for  we  shall  see  Him, 
as  He  is." 

This  is  "the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus," 
the  stimulating  call  of  the  King,  standing  at  the  golden 
milestone  with  wreath  in  hand,  to  the  speeding  athletes. 
It  is  a  call  to  promotion,  endless  honor  and  continuance 
in  growth  toward  perfection.  Brethren,  our  names 
are  listed  in  the  Stadium ;  "  Wherefore,  let  us  lay  aside 
every  weight  and  the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us 
and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before 
us,  looking  unto  Jesus,  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our 
faith;  who,  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him,  endured 
the  cross,  despising  the  shame  and  is  set  down  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God." 


FROM  GLORY  TO  GLORY. 


THE  SHINING   FACE. 

"And  His  face  did  shine  as  the  sun."     Matthew  17:  2. 

"And  Moses  wist  not  that  the  skin  of  his  face  shone  while  he  talked  with 
Him."     Exodus    34:  29. 

"And  all  that  sat  in  the  council,  looking  steadfastly  on  him,  saw  his  face 
as  it  had  been  the  face  of  an  angel."     Acts  6:  15. 

All  will  agree  that  there  is  something  in  physiog- 
nomy, but  probably  not  so  much  as  many  discover  in 
it.  By  an  act  of  Parliament  under  the  reign  of  George 
II,  all  persons  "fayning  to  have  knowledge  of  physi- 
ognomic" were  sentenced,  as  rogues  and  vagabonds, 
to  be  whipped  at  the  cart's  tail.  This  was  because  the 
practice  had  become  shamefully  allied  with  wizardry 
and  superstition.  It  is  a  matter  of  fact  and  beyond 
denial  that  good  and  evil  stamp  themselves  on  the 
countenance.  AppHcants  for  admission  to  the  school 
of  Pythagoras  were  passed  upon,  pro  and  contra,  by 
the  testimony  of  their  features  as  they  walked  before 
him.  The  sad  face,  the  morose  face,  the  sensuous 
face,  the  avaricious  face,  the  weak  face  and  the  strong 
one,  the  "face  Hke  an  open  book,"  the  "face  that  lights 
up,"  the  face  "  like  a  benediction  "  and  the  face  of  which 
Bulwer  speaks,  "like  a  letter  of  recommendation" — 
all  these  are  familiar  to  us.  Shakespeare  makes  men- 
tion of  a  "February  face,  so  full  of  frost  and  cloudi- 

(139) 


140  THE    EVOLUTION    OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

ness  and  storm."  The  variety  is  as  limitless  as  the 
leaves  in  Vallombrosa;  and  this  because  there  are 
"many  men  of  many  minds,"  and  the  coimtenance  is  a 
revelation  of  the  soul  behind  it. 

If  it  be  true  that  the  features  are  thus  impressed 
by  the  indwelling  soul,  we  should  expect  to  find  an 
outward  mark  of  the  change  which  takes  place  within 
a  man  who  returns  from  sin  to  God.  If  there  be  any 
force  in  analogy,  his  should  be  a  singularly  luminous 
face.  And  this  is  the  particular  fact  to  which  our  at- 
tention is  now  directed.  The  glow  of  this  supernatural 
light  is  seen  at  its  highest  and  best  in  Christ  as  the 
Ideal  Man.  In  vain  have  artists  from  time  imme- 
morial striven  to  paint  it.  We  have  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  He  was  distinguished  above  His  fellows  by 
any  conventional  beauty  of  feature.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  said,  "He  hath  no  form  nor  comeliness; 
and  when  we  shall  see  Him  there  is  no  beauty  that  we 
should  desire  Him. "  It  can  scarcely  be  thought  that  One 
who  bore  in  His  bosom  the  passion  of  redemption 
should  not  have  betrayed  His  inward  sorrow.  "His 
face  was  so  marred  more  than  any  man's  ";  yet  He  was 
"chiefest  among  ten  thousand  and  altogether  lovely," 
because  there  was  the  shining  of  the  inward  light "  like 
porcelain  with  a  light  behind  it." 

The  angels  are  represented  as  having  the  same  re- 
splendent features.     Lowell  speaks  of  the  seraph 

All  radiant  with  the  glory  and  the  calm 
Of  haying  looked  upon  the  front  of  God; 


FROM  GLORY  TO  GLORY.  141 

and  Dante  of  one  whose  face  was  ''  as  a  fine  ruby  smit- 
ten by  the  sun." 

In  Uke  manner  great  masters  have  represented  the 
saints  with  a  halo  or  nimbus  about  their  heads.  This 
is  merely  an  expedient  to  represent  what  pigments 
could  not  show,  the  glory  shining  outward  from  the 
soul. 

But  why  should  we  go  to  angels  or  saints  to  find  it  ? 
I  have  seen  this  radiance  on  the  face  of  a  patient  suf- 
ferer in  the  hospital,  a  face  eloquent  of  pain  but  of  a  di- 
vine resignation  and  content  behind  and  beyond  it. 
You  can,  perhaps,  remember  the  strange  supernatural 
light  as  it  shone  on  the  face  of  your  mother,  telling  of 
"the  peace  that  passeth  understanding"  dwelling  in 
her  heart.  The  wounded  soldiers  of  the  Crimea  saw 
it  in  the  face  of  Florence  Nightingale,  "the  Lady  of 
the  Lamp,"  as  she  passed  among  them  on  her  minis- 
try of  mercy.  It  has  been  called  "The  solar  look  in 
the  face  of  man." 

At  its  very  highest  we  find  it,  precisely  as  we  should 
expect,  in  Jesus  at  His  transfiguration,  the  supreme 
moment  in  His  earthly  life. 

In  this  connection  Joseph  Cook  asks,  "What  if  the 
cloud  which  appeared  as  the  Transfiguration  was  some 
revelation  to  the  human  sense  of  that  ether  which 
Richter  calls  '  the  home  of  souls  ? '  What  if  the  trans- 
figuring light  was  but  a  revelation  of  the  capacities  of 
the  spiritual  being,  enswathed  within  the  flesh  as  light 
is  enswathed  within  the  fleecy  tabernacle  of  the  trans- 


142  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

lucent  clouds  in  the  noon  yonder  above  our  heads  ? 
Mysterious,  you  say?  But  after  all  we  must  adhere 
to  the  principle  that  every  change  must  have  an  ade- 
quate cause.  As  Dante  says,  there  is  smoke  on  earth; 
the  solar  light  in  the  human  body  is  dim  here;  but  what 
is  this  flame,  when  at  its  best  ?  The  light  of  the  fire 
that  shines  in  the  eyes  of  a  good  man  or  woman,  how 
bright  would  it  be  if  their  goodness  could  be  enlarged 
to  the  measure  of  that  of  the  Soul  that  never  sinned  ? 
How  would  it  illuminate  then  the  whole  frame  ?  Is 
there  unity  of  kind  between  the  light  that  we  call  the 
solar  look  in  scientific  parlance,  and  the  radiance  that 
filled  Stephen's  face,  or  that  of  Moses?  A  spiritual 
force  was  concerned  in  the  two  cases,  and  its  powers 
are  yet  unchanged.  Was  not  the  same  force  concerned 
in  the  Transfiguration  also  ?  We  have  but  the  twilight, 
a  dim  scintillation  of  this  radiance.  But  we  know  that 
what  little  we  have  comes  from  the  innermost  holiest. 
Raphael  studied  the  Transfiguration,  and  his  painted 
conception  of  it  was  borne  aloft  above  his  funeral 
bier.  Are  we  not  in  the  advances  of  science  obtaining 
some  views  of  it  which  his  canvas  cannot  show  us  ? " 
So  then  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  Christian  face. 
If  the  religion  of  Christ  is  truth,  if  it  actually  dwells 
in  the  heart  with  transforming  power,  then  as  a  scien- 
tific fact  the  countenance  should  show  it;  and  it  does 
so  precisely  in  the  measure  in  which  the  great  uplifting 
truths  are  so  entertained  as  to  dominate  us.  To  that 
degree  and  to  that  only  the  face  "lights  up." 


FROM  GLORY  TO  GLORY.  143 

I.  The  Solar  Look  is  an  expression  of  the  Beauty 
of  Holiness. 

It  comes  from  communion  with  God;  holiness  be- 
ing a  brief  statement  of  the  sum  total  of  the  divine  at- 
tributes. In  Isaiah's  vision  he  "saw  the  Lord  sitting 
upon  a  throne  high  and  lifted  up  ";  above  Him  were  the 
seraphim  crying,  one  to  another,  "Holy,  holy,  holy  is 
the  Lord  of  hosts;  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  His  glory!" 
Whereupon  he  cried,  "Woe  is  me,  for  I  am  undone; 
because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  Ups,  and  I  dwell  in 
the  midst  of  a  people  of  unclean  lips:  for  mine  eyes 
have  seen  the  King,  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Then  one  of 
the  seraphim  came  from  the  altar  and  touched  his 
lips  with  a  hve  coal,  saying,  "Thine  iniquity  is  taken 
away  and  thy  sin  is  purged";  whereupon  Isaiah  took 
on  the  shining  face  as  one  whose  life  had  come  into 
vital  touch  with  God. 

In  the  life  of  Jesus  there  was  no  moment  when  He 
and  the  Father  were  not  in  close  communion ;  but  that 
intimacy  reached  its  culmination  in  the  hour  of  His 
transfiguration,  when  His  garments,  fluttering  aside, 
disclosed  the  purple  of  the  King,  and  a  Voice  was 
heard  saying,  "This  is  My  beloved  Son."  It  was  then 
that  His  face  so  reflected  the  divine  glory  that  His 
biographer  says,  "It  did  shine  as  the  sun.' 

The  climacteric  period  in  the  life  of  Moses  was 
when  he  went  into  Sinai  and  abode  there  forty  days 
in  communion  with  God.  Forty  years  had  he  been 
in  the  desert  of  Midian  feeding  the  flocks  of  Jethro, 


144  THE    EVOLUTION   OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

his  father-in-law,  and  not  once  had  his  face  caught 
that  shining  look.  He  was  there  unmindful  of  his 
larger  tasks,  and  obHvious  of  his  people  in  bondage. 
The  stolid  look  dwelt  upon  him  until  the  day  when  he 
saw  the  acacia  bush  aflame  and  heard  God  speaking 
out  of  the  midst  of  it,  "  I-Am-That-I-Am  hath  sent 
you ! "  And  now  in  the  mountain  he  meets  the  Infinite 
face  to  face  and  speaks  with  Him.  Is  it  strange  that 
his  face  shines,  or  that,  descending  from  the  mountain, 
he  must  needs  put  a  veil  upon  his  face  ere  the  people 
can  speak  with  him  ? 

The  life  of  Stephen  reached  its  zenith  when  he 
stood  before  the  Sanhedrin  to  defend  his  faith;  at 
the  moment  when,  carried  away  by  his  devotion  to 
Christ,  and  forgetful  of  peril,  he  exclaimed,  "Ye  have 
betrayed  and  murdered  the  Just  One!  Ye  have  re- 
ceived the  law  by  the  disposition  of  angels  and  have 
not  kept  it!"  It  is  written  that  "then,  being  full  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  he  looked  steadfastly  into  heaven  and  saw 
the  glory  of  God  and  Jesus  standing  on  the  right  hand 
of  God."  At  this  juncture  all  who  sat  in  the  council, 
looking  steadfastly  on  him,  "saw  his  face  as  it  had 
been  the  face  of  an  angel."  His  eyes  were  open;  he 
was  facing  God. 

II.  The  shining  face  is  a  manifestation  of  the  in- 
dwelling Ethical  Imperative.  It  reveals  the  sense  of 
right  doing,  a  conscience  at  peace  with  itself  and  with 
God. 

The  supernatural  light  on  the  face  of  Jesus  was 


FROM  GLORY  TO  GLORY.  145 

kindled  in  the  hour  of  His  transfiguration  because  the 
burden  of  His  great  sacrifice  was  then  laid,  finally  and 
most  heavily,  upon  His  willing  heart.  He  had,  indeed, 
carried  it  all  along,  not  without  the  natural  shrinking 
of  the  flesh;  but  here  He  bowed  Himself  in  a  supreme 
act  of  acquiescence.  The  theme  of  conversation  in  that 
hour  was  "  His  decease  which  He  should  accomplish  at 
Jerusalem."  The  chill  shadow  of  the  cross  had  long 
enfolded  Him ;  out  of  that  shadow  He  now  passed  into 
"the  most  excellent  glory";  and  duty,  more  than  ever, 
was  "the  joy  set  before  Him." 

So  the  forty  days  of  Moses  in  Sinai  were  days  of 
surrender:  "Thou  hast  laid  the  burden  of  all  this 
people  upon  me!  Thou  hast  said  unto  me.  Carry  them 
in  thy  bosom,  as  a  nursing  father  beareth  the  sucking 
child,  unto  the  land  which  thou  swearest  unto  their 
fathers.  I  am  not  able  to  bear  all  this  burden  alone, 
because  it  is  too  heavy  for  me."  The  man  who  in  the 
desert  of  Midian  had  forgotten  his  enslaved  people 
while  following  the  routine  of  a  shepherd's  tasks,  was 
now  prepared  for  the  great  work  which  God  had  pre- 
pared for  him.  Then  the  light  fell  upon  his  face;  so 
that  the  people  stood  in  awe  as  they  beheld  him. 

In  like  manner  the  defense  of  Stephen  marked  his 
final  subjugation  to  the  divine  behest.  The  pains  of 
death  no  longer  gat  hold  upon  him,  because  he  "saw 
the  Son  of  man  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God." 
The  noble  army  of  martyrs  passing  through  a  like  ex- 
perience have  all  reflected  the  celestial  light.    The  leg- 


146  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

end  of  Polycarp,  the  venerable  bishop  of  Smyrna,  says 
that  as  the  fagots  were  kindled  about  him,  the  flames 
were  caught  up  into  the  form  of  a  pavilion  and,  thus 
enfolded,  he  "  lifted  his  face  shining  like  the  face  of  an 
angel "  and  sang,  "  Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the 
Son  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost;  as  it  was  in  the  beginning, 
is  now  and  ever  shall  be!" 

If  one  desires  to  attain  to  the  fullness  of  the  spiritual 
life  he  must  reach  out  after  this  all-absorbing  and  con- 
suming sense  of  duty.  "There  is  only  one  form  of 
culture,"  says  Joseph  Cook,  "that  gives  supremacy, 
and  that  is  the  form  which  produces  the  solar  look; 
and  the  solar  look  comes  only  from  the  Light  that 
lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.  It 
may  be  incontrovertibly  proved  by  the  coolest  induction 
from  fixed  natural  law,  that  the  highest  culture  must 
be  that  through  which  the  solar  look  shines,  and  that 
this  look  is  possible  only  when  there  exists  in  the  soul 
glad  self-surrender  to  the  innermost  holiest  of  con- 
science. In  that  innermost  holiest,  Christianity  finds  a 
personal  Omnipresence.  Culture  should  believe  in  the 
law  of  the  survivial  of  the  fittest.  Two  lights  conflict, — 
the  earthly  and  the  solar.  Your  eyes  filled  with  poetic 
rapture,  your  loftiest  attitudes  of  merely  aesthetic  or 
intellectual  culture,  quail,  other  things  being  equal, 
before  the  solar  look.  Here  is  a  fact  of  science:  a  visible, 
physical,  haughty  circumstance  of  yet  unf  athomed  signifi- 
cance; an  unexplored  remainder,  on  which  what  calls  it- 
self culture  may  do  well  to  fasten  prolonged  attention." 


FROM  GLORY  TO  GLORY.  147 

It  is  this  before  which  Satan  quailed  in  Milton's 
vision : 

....   "He  dilated  stood. 
Like  Teneriffe  or  Atlas  unremoved; 
His  stature  reached  the  sky,  and  on  his  crest 
Sat  Horror  plumed. — The  Eternal 
Hung  forth  in  heaven  His  golden  scales,  yet  seen 
Betwixt  Astrsea  and  the  Scorpion  sign. — 
The  fiend  looked  up,  and  knew 
His  mounted  scale  aloft;    nor  more;   but  fled 
Murmuring,  and  with  him  fled  the  shades  of  night. 

III.  It  remains  to  be  said  that  the  luminous  look 
is  an  expression  of  Commanding  Influence.  It  is  the 
outward  light  of  authority  in  the  soul. 

We  find  the  supreme  expression  of  this  again,  as 
we  should  expect,  in  the  transfigured  Christ.  He  de- 
scended from  the  mount  with  a  new  majesty  in  His 
face,  so  that  the  disciples  were  afraid  as  they  beheld 
Him. 

A  like  impression  was  made  by  Moses  as  he  de- 
scended from  Sinai.  The  people  perceived  that  the 
divine  seal  had  been  placed  upon  him.  At  times  they 
had  questioned  his  authority;  they  could  never  look 
on  him  again  in  the  same  way.  He  bore  the  symbol  of 
power,  as  one  who  was  thenceforth  to  be  a  vicegerent 
of  God.  In  recognition  of  this  fact  the  sculptors,  led 
by  Michael  Angelo,  have  represented  him  with  horns, 
this  being  the  conventional  mode  of  setting  forth  the 
power  of  God. 


148  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

Stephen,  too,  came  to  his  majority  of  influence 
when  he  stood  before  the  council,  and,  led  thence  to  his 
death  beyond  the  gate,  "lifted  up  to  heaven  his  face  as 
it  had  been  an  angel's."  There  was  one  among  his 
persecutors  who  would  never  forget  that  look;  a 
young  man  holding  the  clothes  of  those  who  stoned 
him.  Saul  of  Tarsus  was  destined  to  see  the  face  of 
dying  Stephen  in  his  dreams.  It  followed  him,  lumin- 
ous with  peace  and  power,  until,  on  the  Damascus 
highway,  the  glory  of  the  Holiest  fell  upon  him  also, 
and,  looking  up,  he  said,  "  Lord  what  wilt  Thou  have 
me  to  do?" 

The  influence  growing  out  of  such  an  experience 
is  inevitable.  We  are  commanded  to  let  our  light  so 
shine  before  men  that  they  may  see  our  good  works 
and  glorify  God.  But,  with  or  without  that  command, 
the  light  of  indwelling  godliness  must  shine  forth  and 
manifest  itself  as  a  beneficent  influence  among  men. 

This  is  an  unconscious  influence.  Moses  "wist  not 
that  his  face  shone."  It  is  well  for  a  man  to  be  silent 
concerning  the  indwelling  light.  Pride  is  the  death  of 
power.  If  you  are  really  seeking  the  deepening  of 
your  spiritual  life,  do  not  talk  about  it.  The  graces 
of  character  are  like  the  golden  dust  on  a  butterfly's 
wing,  which  is  blurred  when  you  touch  it. 

And  this  influence  is  immortal.  Death  has  no  power 
over  it.  The  glow  on  the  face  of  Jesus  and  Moses 
and  Stephen  is  forever.  If  one  of  the  fixed  stars  were 
to  be  extinguished,  they  say  we  should  not  know  it. 


FROM  GLORY  TO  GLORY.     .       149 

because  the  trail  of  light  would  linger  for  a  thousand 
years.  More  lasting  is  the  power  of  a  Christian  life;  it 
never  goes  out. 

One  thing  more;  this  light  is  prophetic.  "For,  be- 
hold, I  show  you  a  mystery;  we  shall  all  be  changed"; 
changed  into  the  Hkeness  of  Christ.  "Now  are  we 
sons  of  God  and  it  doth  no  yet  appear  what  we  shall 
be;  but  we  know  that,  when  He  shall  appear,  we  shall 
be  like  Him,  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is."  The 
change  begins  at  regeneration  and  continues  under  the 
sanctifying  influence  of  the  Spirit  until  we  come  to  the 
fulness  of  the  stature  of  a  fullgrown  man. 

But  how  are  we  thus  changed?  By  looking  unto 
Jesus,  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith.  It  was 
a  saying  among  the  ancients  that  a  man  took  on  the 
likeness  of  his  favorite  god.  So  it  is  written  of  idols, 
"they  that  make  them  are  like  unto  them."  The  truth 
holds  good  as  to  the  followers  of  Christ.  He  is  our 
Exemplar  and  we  grow  into  His  image  as  we  follow 
Him.  To  be  in  communion  with  Christ  is  to  be  in  vital 
touch  with  God.  Here  is  the  secret  of  sanctification ; 
"We  all  with  open  face  beholding,  as  in  a  mirror,  the 
glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same  image, 
from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord." 


THE  LAW  OF  CAPITAL. 

A  PROFITABLE   INVESTMENT. 

"Unto  every  one  that  hath,  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  abundance: 
but  from  him  that  hath  not,  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath." 
Matthew  25;  29. 

So  ends  the  Parable  of  the  Talents,  in  which  is  set 
forth  the  importance  of  a  Profitable  Investment  of  the 
Assets  of  Life. 

The  law  as  here  laid  down  is  colloquially  expressed  in 
the  familiar  saying,  "He  that  has,  gets."  It  is  the  rule 
of  the  snow-ball  and  the  nest-egg.  He,  who  having  a 
Kttle  adds  a  little  more  and  keeps  on  doing  so,  is  in  the 
way  of  getting  rich.  He,  who  lacks  at  the  end  of  the 
month,  lacks  more  at  the  end  of  the  year  and  ultimately 
lands  in  bankruptcy. 

Know  when  to  spend  and  when  to  spare. 

And  when  to  buy,  and  thou  shalt  ne'er  be  bare. 

The  small  surplus  is  the  seed  of  the  harvest.    There  is  a 

proverb,  "  The  destruction  of  the  poor  is  their  poverty  "; 

and    another,    "Money   makes    money.*'      These    are 

simply  paraphrases  of  the  law  referred  to.    Its  abuse  is 

illustrated  in  Trusts  and  Combines.    A  group  of  those 

who  have  capital  "  pool "  it  and  crowd  to  the  wall  the 

small  factors  who  have  little  or  none  to  speak  of.     The 

law  is   a   good  one,  nevertheless;   and  we  shall   gain 

nothing  by  quarreling  with  it. 

(150) 


THE   LAW   OF   CAPITAL.  151 

Let  US  suppose  a  case:  You  have  two  farms  which 
you  rent  out.  One  of  the  tenants  is  thrifty  and  industri- 
ous, keeps  everything  in  repair  and  tills  his  fields  spleil- 
didly.  The  other  dawdles,  falls  behind  and  suffers  his 
fields  to  run  to  weeds.  When  the  leases  expire,  what 
will  you  do  ^  You  will,  as  a  matter  of  course,  turn  over 
the  neglected  farm  to  the  other  man.  Now  read  again 
the  Parable  of  the  Talents  and  you  will  find  this  is 
precisely  the  Lord's  way  of  dealing  with  us. 

The  rule  prevails  not  merely  in  the  market-place  but 
in  every  province  of  life.  It  holds  in  our  mental  experi- 
ence ;  thinking  increases  the  power  of  thought.  This  is 
what  we  mean  when  we  speak  of  *'  sharpening  our  wits." 
And  we  grow  spiritually  in  the  same  way.  The  making 
of  character  is  a  simple  sum  in  addition;  it  is  adding 
grace  to  grace,  as  Peter  says,  "Add  to  your  faith,  virtue; 
and  to  virtue,  knowledge;  and  to  knowledge,  temper- 
ance; and  to  temperance,  patience;  and  to  patience, 
godliness ;  and  to  godliness,  brotherly  kindness  and  to 
brotherly  kindness,  charity." 

So  we  have  here  a  brief  expression  of  the  whole  phil- 
osophy of  life.  Is  life  worth  living  ?  That  depends.  If 
it  means  simply  a  year  in  a  mother's  arms,  another  with 
a  doll  or  hobby  horse,  a  few  more  with  primer  and 
spelling  book,  then  youth  and  laughter  and  castles  in 
the  air,  then  the  cares  and  responsibilities  of  social  and 
business  life,  "  the  whips  and  scorns  of  time,"  crow's  feet 
and  wrinkles,  the  almond-tree  blossoming,  the  grass- 
hopper a  burden,  eyes  dim,  shoulders  bowed,  lights  out, 


152  THE    EVOLUTION    OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

curtains  down,  crape  on  the  door,  a  handful  of  dust — if 
that  be  all,  the  game  is  not  worth  the  candle.  It  is  as 
Shakespeare  says,  no  better  than  "a  tale  told  by  an 
idiot,  full  of  sound  and  fury,  signifying  nothing." 

The  importance  of  life  is  to  be  determined  not  by 
what  we  can  get  out  of  it,  but  by  what  we  put  into  it. 
The  question  turns  on  three  considerations;  to  wit, 
assets,  investments  and  profit. 

As  to  the  Assets  of  Life;  that  is,  our  "stock  in  trade." 
All  that  we  are  and  have  must  be  properly  utilized  if  we 
are  to  live  profitable  lives.    What  is  the  inventory  ? 

First.  The  Body;  a  wonderful  organism  served 
by  the  five  physical  senses;  and  adjusted  with  in- 
finite care  to  all  demands  that  can  normally  be  made 
upon  it. 

Second.  The  Mind ;  a  still  more  wonderful  organism, 
endowed  with  all  faculties  necessary  to  the  acquisition 
and  communication  of  knowledge.  All  persons  are  not 
equally  equipped ;  the  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table 
uses  a  suggestive  figure  when  he  speaks  of  "many- 
storied  men."  A  one-story  man  is  simply  a  fact  col- 
lector; the  two-story  man  has  a  higher  floor  on  which 
he  analyzes  and  collates  his  facts ;  the  three-story  man 
puts  his  facts  into  boxes  and  bundles  and  directs  them 
to  their  various  uses :  that  is,  he  transmutes  his  know- 
ledge into  life  and  power. 

Third.  The  Soul.  This  is  the  sky-parlor,  where  a 
man  gets  light  from  above  and  "thinks  God's  thoughts 
after  Him."    It  is  in  the  use  of  our  spiritual  faculties 


THE    LAW    OF    CAPITAL.  153 

that  we  commune  with  our  Creator  and  solve  the  pro- 
blems reaching  out  into  the  eternal  life. 

Fourth.  Our  Time.  As  to  this  there  is  no  difference; 
each  of  us  has  all  there  is  of  it.  And  the  possession  is 
priceless.  How  easily  the  words  tempus  fugit  fall  from 
a  school-boy's  lips;  yet  what  tremendous  issues  are  in- 
volved in  them.  "Time  flies";  flies  like  an  eagle,  like 
an  arrow,  and  it  never  returns.  I  watch  the  sands  run 
through  an  hour-glass  and  then  reverse  it.  I  can  treat 
an  hour-glass  but  not  an  hour  that  way.  A  moment 
gone  is  gone  forever.  By  patient  industry  I  may  regain 
lost  wealth.  By  the  use  of  proper  remedies  I  may  re- 
cover lost  health.  By  right  living  I  may  win  back  a  lost 
reputation.  But  time  lost  is  lost  forever.  It  behooves 
us,  therefore,  to  make  the  best  possible  use  of  it. 

Fifth.  Our  Acquisitions :  wealth,  whether  it  be  the 
fortune  of  a  millionaire  or  the  widow's  two  mites; 
knowledge,  a  most  important  part  of  our  working 
capital;  or  character,  most  important  of  all.  Our 
moral  convictions  go  into  the  inventory.  You  believe 
in  God,  that  is  an  asset.  You  believe  in  immortality, 
that  is  an  asset.  You  believe  in  the  Bible,  that  is  an 
asset.  You  believe  in  Christ,  that  also  is  an  asset.  Put 
them  all  down  in  the  inventory  of  your  capital;  which 
must  be  used  so  as  to  realize  as  much  as  possible  from  it. 

So  much  for  the  Assets ;  now  as  to  Investments. 

What  shall  we  do  with  our  capital  ?  The  word  "  in- 
vestment," derived  from  investire,  is  full  of  suggestion. 
It  means  literally  "  to  cover  with  a  garment. "    We  speak 


154  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

of  investing  a  man  with  rank  or  office.  If  you  invest  him 
with  ermine,  you  make  him  a  judge;  if  you  invest  him 
with  purple,  you  make  him  a  king.  To  invest  our  capi- 
tal is  literally  to  make  it  mean  something,  or  to  give 
character  to  it.  We  can  invest  it  so  that  time  becomes 
money,  knowledge  becomes  power  and  faith  is  trans- 
formed into  character. 

There  are  three  things  that  we  can  do  with  our 
capital: 

First.  We  can  hoard  it;  that  is,  play  the  miser  with 
it. 

In  a  rookery  in  Harlem  an  aged  man  was  recently 
found  dead.  His  life  had  been  spent  in  poverty  and 
rigid  abstinence;  yet,  when  his  home  was  searched, 
money  was  found  in  every  nook  and  cranny,  beneath  his 
mattress,  under  his  hearth;  bank-notes,  bonds  and 
mortgages,  gold  and  silver  coin.  But  what  better  were 
they  than  blank  paper  or  iron  pyrites  ?  He  had  been  no 
happier  and  the  world  no  better  for  them.  There  lay 
the  old  man,  stark  and  cold.  Open  his  stiff  fingers ;  his 
hands  are  empty ;  he  has  left  all ! 

Second.    We  may  squander  it,  as  spendthrifts  do. 

We  may  scatter  our  money  right  and  left,  "kill  time" 
and  fritter  away  our  mental  acquisitions.  Let  us  hear 
a  parable:  A  well-dressed  youth,  who  had  gone 
through  his  fortune,  entered  an  inn  and  made  merry 
with  revelers  all  night.  At  the  first  gleam  of  the  breaking 
day  he  paid  his  reckoning,  arose,  called  on  his  comrades 
to  follow.    A  musician  played  a  waltz  while  he  and  his 


THE    LAW    OF    CAPITAL.  155 

companions  danced  down  to  the  edge  of  a  river  that 
flowed  near  by.  He  waded  in,  emptying  his  purse  and 
tossing  its  few  remaining  coins  to  his  wondering  friends. 
They  thought  it  a  strange  diversion,  until  he  cried 
"Good  night!"  and  plunged  beneath  the  water.  He 
was  a  fool,  you  say .?  Aye;  but  not  a  whit  more  so  than 
any  other  who  thus  squanders  life's  capital.  For  that 
day's  folly  is  simply  an  apologue  of  every  wasted  life; 
only  we  see  the  picture  better  for  getting  it  into  the  focus 
of  a  single  day. 

Third.    We  may  put  our  capital  out  at  interest. 

At  interest  for  whom  ?  That  depends  on  the  question 
of  ownership.  To  whom  do  we  and  our  assets  belong  ? 
To  God,  by  a  three-fold  right;  to  wit,  the  right  of 
creation,  the  right  of  sustenance,  and  the  right  of  pur- 
chase. If  it  be  true  that  God  made  us,  then  in  the  last 
reduction  of  logic,  He  has  a  proprietary  right  in  us,  as 
really  as  has  the  potter  in  the  vessel  which  he  makes  up- 
on his  wheel.  If  it  be  true  that  in  Him  we  live  and  move 
and  have  our  being,  so  that  every  breath  we  draw  is  the 
gift  of  his  bounty,  then  should  our  pulse  be  ever  beating 
the  refrain  of  honesty,  "Thine  Lord,  Thine!"  If  it  be 
true  that  when  we  were  under  the  sentence  of  sin  He 
interposed  to  save  us ;  then  must  we  consent  that  we  are 
"bought  with  a  price,  not  silver  and  gold,  but  the 
precious  blood  of  Jesus,  as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish 
and  without  spot."  So  it  is  obvious  that  the  question  of 
investment  is  determined  by  the  prior  question  of 
ownership.     Our  body,  mind  and  soul,  our  time  and 


156  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

acquisitions,  are  not  "  ours  "  in  fee  simple  but  merely  in 
trust.  We  are  stewards  holding  for  wise  investment  the 
capital  thus  committed  to  us. 

Now  as  to  Profit.    Whose  are  the  dividends  ? 

(1)  Our  own,  to  begin  with.  It  is  our  prime  duty  to 
make  the  most  of  ourselves.  All  that  we  have  and  are 
must  be  so  used  as  to  turn  to  our  own  advantage  in  the 
building  up  of  character  and  usefulness :  and  this  with 
due  recognition  of  the  fact  that  all  that  we  thus  invest 
belongs  to  God.  When  Peter  said  to  Christ,  "  We  have 
left  all  to  follow  thee.  We  have  invested  our  nets,  our 
fishing-boats,  our  booths  by  the  lake-shore,  our  time 
and  meager  wealth,  everything,  in  this  gospel  enter- 
prise; what  shall  we  have  in  return  ?  "  the  answer  was, 
"Verily  I  say  unto  you,  There  is  no  man  that  hath 
forsaken  anything  for  the  kingdom  of  God's  sake  who 
shall  not  receive  an  hundred-fold  in  this  present  time 
and  in  the  world  to  come,  everlasting  life."  If  it  were 
true  that  death  ends  all,  the  profit  accruing  to  a  man 
from  the  service  of  the  gospel  is,  in  this  present  time, 
better  than  gold-bearing  bonds :  but  if  immortality  is  a 
fact,  then  measure,  if  you  can,  the  meaning  of  those 
words  "  everlasting  life ! " 

(2)  The  profit  of  a  wise  investment  accrues  not  only 
to  the  investor  but  to  his  fellow  men.  There  is  no 
pleasure  like  "the  generous  pleasure  of  kindly  deeds." 
The  truest  self-enrichment  is  in  self -forgetfuln ess  in 
behalf  of  others.  This  is  to  live  like  the  ideal  Man  of 
Whom  it  is  written,  "  He  went  about  doing  good."  The 


THE   LAW   OF   CAPITAL.  157 

world  is  full  of  heart-aches  and  the  air  is  vibrant  with  the 
cry  for  help.  It  is  the  part  of  both  prudence  and  wisdom 
to  lighten  the  burden  and  sweeten  the  lives  of  all.  In  one 
of  Sidney  Smith's  letters  he  says,  "  I  have  been  making  a 
calculation :  if  I  make  one  person  happy  every  day  for 
ten  years,  I  shall  have  made  three  thousand  six  hundred 
and  fifty  happy ;  that  is,  I  shall  have  brightened  a  small 
town  by  my  contribution  to  the  fund  of  general  joy." 

(3)  But  the  supreme  and  ultimate  glory  of  a  wise 
investment  of  ourselves  and  our  possessions  is  God's; 
and  here  we  come  to  the  highest  summit  of  life.  The 
chief  end  of  man  is  to  glorify  God.  To  leave  Him  out  of 
the  reckoning  is  immeasurable  folly.  When  the  Earl  of 
Rochester  had  reached  the  end  of  his  frivolous  and  un- 
scrupulous life  he  said,  "  I  would  rather  be  lying  here  as 
a  blind  beggar  than  to  have  lived  as  I  have  in  the  midst 
of  glorious  possibilities  and  forgotten  God." 

It  is  of  God's  infinite  condescension  that  we  and  our 
fellow  men  are  thus  made  to  be  sharers  in  the  benefits  of 
a  right  investment  of  capital  which  belongs  absolutely 
and  only  to  our  Creator.  The  principle  known  as 
"profit  sharing"  is  illustrated  in  His  administration  as 
nowhere  else.  In  conversation  with  a  friend  last  night, 
I  inquired  as  to  a  threatened  strike  in  one  of  his  factories. 
He  said :  "  O,  that  is  all  settled  now.  I  had  intended  to 
introduce  the  profit-sharing  system  into  the  factory,  but 
a  week  ago  a  delegation  of  workmen  called  upon  me  and 
demanded  an  advance  of  wages.  I  said,  *  But  suppose 
the  condition  of  the  business  does  not  warrant  my  grant- 


158  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

ing  your  request?'  They  answered,  *We  can't  help 
that;  we  are  looking  out  for  our  own  interests,  and  if  our 
demand  is  not  granted,  we  strike.'  I  said  to  them, '  Very 
well;  I  was  intending  to  take  you  into  the  corporation, 
and  my  business  is  in  such  a  state  that  it  would  have  been 
greatly  to  your  advantage;  but,  gentlemen,  you  have 
decided  otherwise.  You  decline  to  consider  my  interests. 
You  are  not  to  be  taken  into  the  partnership,  but  your 
demand  is  granted,  you  shall  have  your  ten  cents  a 
day.'"  It  would  be  an  unspeakable  misfortune  if  a 
similar  attitude  were  to  rule  us  out  of  the  benefits  which 
God  would  fain  confer  upon  us.  To  yield  nothing  to 
Him  is  to  gain  little  for  ourselves  in  this  present  time 
and  to  fall  short  of  everlasting  life. 

Two  words  in  conclusion.  The  beginning  of  a  profit- 
able life  is  in  submitting  ourselves  to  God. 

We  do  this  when  we  accede  to  the  overtures  which  He 
makes  through  His  only  begotten  Son.  An  honest  man, 
recognizing  the  divine  claim  upon  Him,  will  not  hesitate 
to  make  the  surrender,  saying,  "Thee  my  new  master 
now  I  call,  and  consecrate  to  Thee  my  all." 

And  the  end  is  judgment;  for  "the  Lord  of  all  ser- 
vants Cometh  and  reckoneth  with  them." 

The  man  who  buries  his  talent  in  the  earth  will  lose 
it.  The  one  who  makes  a  wise  investment  will  come 
saying,  "  Lord,  Thou  deliveredst  unto  me  five  talents ; 
behold,  I  have  gained  besides  them  five  talents  more"; 
and  the  response  will  be,"  Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servant,  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will 


THE   LAW    OF   CAPITAL.  150 

make  thee  ruler  over  many  things;  enter  thou  into  the 
joy  of  thy  Lord!"  And  that  will  be  heaven.  Does  it 
pay,  then,  to  make  a  wise  investment  of  the  assets  of 
hfe  ?  Does  it  pay  to  take  God  into  the  reckoning  ?  Take 
your  place  at  the  Assize  and  see.  Hear  the  words,  "  Well 
done!"  See  the  opening  of  heaven's  gates.  "Enter 
thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord!"  Great  is  the  hundred- 
fold of  this  present  time;  but  nothing,  nothing  tb  the 
unspeakable  delights  of  heaven.  O,  the  life  everlasting 
God  help  us  so  to  live  that  we  may  enter  into  it. 


THE  LAW  OF  HONESTY. 

THE    EIGHTH    COMMANDMENT. 

"Thou  shalt  not  steal."     Exodus  20:  15. 

Steal  ?  Of  course  not.  Stealing  is  a  vulgar  vice.  No 
respectable  person  would  think  of  indulging  in  it.  We 
look  with  unspeakable  aversion  on  the  light-fingered 
or  heavy-handed  gentry  who  crowd  our  jails;  foot- 
pads, burglars,  pick-pockets,  highwaymen,  sharpers, 
shoplifters,  forgers,  sneak  thieves.  "  God,  I  thank  Thee 
that  I  am  not  as  these  men  are!" 

But  all  the  dishonest  people  are  not  in  jail.  We  seem 
to  be  passing  through  an  epidemic  of  dishonesty  just 
now.  The  newspapers  are  full  of  it,  dishonesty  in  high 
places  and  in  low  places.  There  are  rumors  of  "  graft " 
in  our  legislatures.  A  bank  president  of  Milwaukee, 
against  whose  character  there  was  no  breath  of  sus- 
picion, has  recently  made  away  with  two  millions  of 
dollars.  The  insurance  exposure  with  its  astonishing 
show  of  expenditures  for  fictitious  services  and  French 
banquets,  suggests  an  indefinite  possibility  of  doubts  and 
misgivings.  "Ladies"  in  high  circles  are  not  above 
swindling  their  confiding  guests  on  the  "green-baize 
field."  Tradesmen  are  accused  of  dealing  in  adulterated 
foods  and  using  false  weights  and  measures.    And  "  cash 

(160) 


THE   LAW   OF   HONESTY.  161 

registers"  are  no  longer  effective  in  preventing  clerks 
from  tapping  their  employers'  tills.  Thus  the  social 
fabric,  if  rumor  can  be  credited,  is  honeycombed  with 
dishonesty.  It  is  spoken  of  as  an  "  epidemic  "  because 
vices,  like  diseases,  vary  in  their  prevalence,  and  this 
is  the  particular  form  of  vice  to  which  all  classes  seem 
to  be  addicted  just  now. 

How  shall  we  account  for  it? 

It  is  due  in  large  measure,  no  doubt,  to  the  common 
haste  to  be  rich. 

These  are  prosperous  times;  money  comes  easily, 
and  men  are  tumbling  over  one  another  in  their  eager- 
ness to  secure  it.  The  question  of  supreme  moment  is 
how  to  get  wealth  without  working  for  it.  We  no 
longer  celebrate  the  virtues  of  the  village  blacksmith: 

His  brow  is  wet  with  honest  sweat. 

He  earns  whate'er  he  can; 
And  he  looks  the  whole  world  in  the  face 

For  he  owes  not  any  man. 

The  primal  sentence,  "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt 
thou  eat  bread"  has  been  supplanted  by  another,  "Get 
rich  honestly,  if  you  can ;  but  get  rich  quick. "  The  man 
who  would  formerly  have  rolled  up  his  shirt-sleeves  at 
the  bench  now  wears  diamonds  in  his  cuff-links  and 
resorts  to  all  manner  of  subterfuges  in  order  to  " get  on." 

Another  of  the  contributing  causes  in  as  overweening 
desire  to  ''keep  up  appearances." 

The  important  consideration,  in  some  quarters,  is 
not,  "What  is  right?"  but,  "What  will  people  say?" 


162  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

A  man  can  not  live  a  ten  thousand  dollar  life  on  a 
fifteen  hundred  dollar  salary  and  do  it  honestly.  It 
means  debt,  to  put  the  matter  in  its  mildest  terms; 
and  debt  is  dishonesty  in  every  case  where  there  is  no 
clear  outlook  to  a  settlement.  Under  such  circumstances 
borrowing  and  pocket-picking  are  interchangeable 
terms ;  and  the  question  of  comparative  respectability  is 
inadmissible.  It  is  related  of  Lamartine,  the  greatest  of 
spendthrifts,  that  when  he  had  run  through  his  vast 
patrimony,  his  freinds  drew  up  a  subscription  to  pre- 
vent his  disgrace  in  bankruptcy.  One  of  the  sub- 
scribers went  to  the  fish  market  with  a  basket  on  his 
arm  and  gazed  long  at  a  turbot,  questioning  whether 
in  view  of  the  generous  subscription  he  had  just  made  for 
the  relief  of  Lamartine,  he  might  venture  to  purchase  a 
slice  of  it.  While  he  was  deliberating  thus,  a  dis- 
tinguished looking  man  came  in,  glanced  at  the  turbot, 
and  without  a  moment's  hesitation  ordered  the  whole 
fish.  The  purchaser  was  Lamartine,  who  was  living  in 
luxury  at  the  expense  of  his  friends.  The  humorous  side 
of  the  incident  is  entirely  obliterated  by  the  pathos  of  it. 
One  is  reminded  of  what  Douglas  Jerrold  said,  "Re- 
spectability is  very  well  for  those  who  can  afford  it;  but 
to  run  in  debt  in  order  to  keep  up  appearances  is  enough 
to  break  the  heart  of  an  angel." 

The  pervailing  disregard  of  common  honesty  is 
traceable  also  to  the  wearing  off  of  the  fine  edge  of  moral 
principle. 

But  what  do  we  mean  by  "  principle  ?  "    The  primi- 


THE   LAW    OF   HONESTY.  163 

tive  is  principium,  compounded  of  primum  and  capio, 
which  may  be  Hberally  rendered  "  I  take  this  as  a  postu- 
late." A  man's  principles  are  the  fundamental  facts  on 
which  he  formulates  his  conduct.  They  must,  there- 
fore, be  bottom  facts.  So  when  a  man  speaks  of  his 
principles  it  is  important  to  know  where  he  gets  them 
from  and  how  well  grounded  they  are. 

The  underlying  motive  may  be  the  sense  of  honor. 

So  far  so  good.  The  word  of  a  gentleman  should  be 
as  trustworthy  as  his  bond. 

Who  misses  or  who  wins  the  prize. 
Go,  lose  or  conquer  as  you  can; 

But  if  you  fall,  or  if  you  rise, 
Be  each,  pray  God,  a  gentleman. 

But  honor  is  a  variable  term,  and  the  title  of  "gentle- 
man "  goes  by  fashion.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  Knight  of 
the  Round  Table  who,  wearing  a  red  cross  on  his  breast, 
went  forth  upon  a  prancing  steed  to  vindicate  the  right 
and  defend  the  helpless,  to  the  degenerate  homunculus  of 
these  times  who  rides  in  an  automobile  purchased  by  the 
sweat  of  his  father's  brow,  with  a  sense  of  honor  gauged 
by  a  determination  to  pay  his  gambling  debts  though 
he  has  to  rob  his  tailor  to  do  it.  The  principles  which 
are  grounded  on  such  "  honor "  can  furnish  but  a  poor 
basis  of  life. 

Or  one's  principles  may  be  derived  from  expediency, 
which  is  set  down  by  certain  of  the  philosophers  as  the 
ultimate  motive  of  conduct. 


164  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

But  this  also  is  a  variable  term,  its  meaning  being 
dependent  on  circumstances.  It  is  true  that  "honesty 
is  the  best  policy";  but,  as  Whately  observes,  "He 
who  acts  on  that  principle  is  not  an  honest  man." 
To  behave  one's  self  from  no  higher  consideration 
than  because  it  pays,  is  a  rule  so  flexible  as  to  be  quite 
untrustworthy  in  the  long  run.  An  unscrupulous 
commercial  adventurer  once  said  to  John  Bright,  "I 
would  give  a  thousand  pounds  for  your  reputation  for 
honesty."  To  which  Mr.  Bright  replied,  "What  would 
you  do  with  it  if  you  had  it?"  The  answer  was,  "I 
would  make  ten  thousand  pounds  out  of  it." 

Or  one  may  get  his  principles  from  the  dictates  of  con- 
science. 

The  great  dramatist  says,"  To  thine  own  self  be  true, 
and  it  must  follow,  as  the  night  the  day,  thou  canst  not 
then  be  false  to  any  man."  But  the  conclusion  is  a  non 
sequituTy  since  the  individual  conscience  may  be  so 
deflected  by  habit  as  to  utterly  confuse  "  the  worse  and 
better  reason."  There  is  no  security  in  being  true  to 
one's  self  unless  the  man  is  himself  a  true  man.  The 
worst  crimes  in  history  have  been  perpetrated  by  bond- 
slaves of  conscience,  like  Philip  II;  men  who  were 
wholly  "true  to  themselves,"  but  whose  perception  of 
right  and  wrong  had  been  perverted  by  long  continu- 
ance in  wrong  lines  of  conduct  and  wrong  ways  of  look- 
ing at  things. 

It  is  obvious,  then,  that  if  we  are  to  have  any  true 
sanctions  of  honesty,  we  must  get  back  further  than  such 


THE   LAW    OF    HONESTY.  165 

personal  considerations  as  honor,  expediency  or  consci- 
entiousness. We  must  have  some  final  and  permanent 
authority  back  of  all  variable  standards. 

In  my  boyhood  I  came  up  the  Mississippi  River  on  a 
boat  which  owing  to  the  treacherous  nature  of  the 
channel,  was  obliged  to  tie  up  on  dark  nights.  On  one 
occasion  the  cable  was  fastened  to  a  snag,  which  drifted 
from  its  position  and  left  the  boat  stranded  on  a  sand- 
spit  at  break  of  day.  In  seeking  for  a  reliable  basis  of 
principle,  we  must  find  something  that  is  not  subject  to 
the  vicissitudes  of  fashion,  something  that  we  can 
safely  "tie  to." 

In  searching  for  this  deeper  basis  we  come  upon  the 
sanctity  of  law. 

And  just  here  the  time  is  apparently  much  out  of 
joint.  On  all  sides  there  is  a  disposition  to  evade  the 
laws.  Capitalists  make  no  scruple  of  evading  their 
taxes;  sportsmen  evade  the  game  laws;  rumsellers 
evade  the  excise  laws;  golfers  and  ball-players  evade 
the  Sunday  laws ;  men  and  women  of  "  the  smart  set " 
strike  hands  with  bookmakers  at  our  racing  parks 
to  evade  the  gambling  laws ;  tourists  evade  the  revenue 
laws;  magistrates  rebuke  policemen  for  pulling  dives 
and  the  police  are  in  undisguised  collusion  with  profes- 
sional law-breakers.  The  remedy  lies  in  a  due  regard  to 
the  sanctity  of  law  for  its  own  sake,  not  because  this  or 
that  particular  statute  is  a  good  one,  but  because  the 
law  as  such  is  enacted  by  the  powers  that  be,  which  are 
ordained  of  God. 


166  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

And  such  a  condition  of  public  opinion  will  never  be 
reached  until  we  get  back  to  the  binding  force  of  the 
original  code. 

By  common  consent  the  basis  of  the  laws  and  juris- 
prudence of  Christendom  is  the  Decalogue.  So  long 
as  the  public  mind  is  debauched  by  the  insinuation 
that  the  Ten  Commandments  have  the  sanction  of 
neither  divine  authority  nor  historicity,  we  need  not 
look  for  any  better  condition  of  things. 

And,  to  that  end,  we  must  search  still  further  and  get 
lower  down  for  the  real  foundation  of  moral  principle. 
The  sanctity  of  law  itself  rests  on  the  sanctity  of  divine 
truth. 

There  is  a  vital  connection  between  creed  and  con- 
duct. A  grocer  who  does  not  believe,  as  a  matter  of 
credal  subscription,  that  sixteen  ounces  make  a  pound,  is 
not  the  grocer  for  you  or  me.  A  politician  who  does  not 
believe  that  public  office  is  a  public  trust,  is  a  poor  candi- 
date to  vote  for.  In  fact,  no  man  is  better  than  his  creed. 
"As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart  so  is  he." 

For  years  mischief-makers  have  been  sedulously  at 
work  digging  under  the  foundations  of  the  Bible  as  our 
trustworthy  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  and  we  are  reap- 
ing the  fruits  of  it.  We  have  heard  so  much  against 
creeds  and  dogmas  that  we  have  measurably  lost  the 
sense  of  authority.  When  a  man  reaches  a  point  where 
he  lifts  his  eyebrows  and  asks,  like  Pilate,  "What  is 
truth  ?  "  he  is  apt  to  follow  Pilate  in  doing  as  others  do. 
The  Bible  as  a  standard  of  belief  and  life  is  useless  if  it  is 


THE   LAW    OF   HONESTY.  167 

only  true  in  spots.  If  you  impugn  the  veracity  of  your 
witness  at  one  point,  his  testimony  is  impaired  as  to  all 
other  points.  The  strength  of  a  chain  must  be  measured 
by  its  weakest  link.  The  Decalogue  rests  on  no  surer 
foundation  than  does  the  story  of  Jonah  and  the  whale. 
The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  no  more  reliable  than  the 
miracle  of  Christ's  walking  on  the  sea. 

Wherefore,  in  the  interests  of  morality,  we  echo  the 
cry,  "  Back  to  the  Bible ! "  You  say,  "  Back  to  Christ! " 
Certainly ;  back  to  the  Christ  of  the  Bible.  The  author- 
ity of  the  Incarnate  Word  stands  on  the  integrity  of  the 
Written  Word  of  God. 

But  we  must  go  deeper  yet.  Back  of  the  Decalogue 
and  hack  of  the  Bible  stands  God. 

"In  the  beginning,  God."  All  truth  and  ethics  must 
ultimately  be  referred  to  Him.  Who  cares  for  law  if 
there  be  no  lawgiver  ?  Who  cares  for  truth  as  a  binding 
force  if  it  have  not  its  throne  in  the  bosom  of  God.^ 
The  ultimate  reason  for  the  prevalence  of  all  sin,  in- 
cluding dishonesty,  is  disbelief  in  God. 

And  here  again  we  meet  the  mischief  makers,  busily 
engaged  in  bowing  God  off  the  premises.  The  high- 
sounding  name  of  Science  is  used  to  persuade  us  that 
Law,  Force,  Energy,  "  a  Something  not  Ourselves  that 
Maketh  for  Righteousness,"  the  "All-pervading  Soul  of 
the  Universe,"  has  taken  His  place.  What  interest  has 
an  immortal  man  in  an  impersonal  ghost  of  a  God  ? 
The  most  pronounced  of  unbehevers,  Voltaire,  who  had 
"served  a  writ  of  ejectment  on  the  Almighty,"  lived  to 


168  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

see  the  logical  conclusion  of  his  teachings  and  sought  to 
repair  the  damage  by  saying,  "  Unless  there  be  diffused 
among  mankind  a  belief  in  a  Power  to  whom  day  and 
night  are  the  same,  who  takes  cognizance  of  secret  as 
well  as  overt  action,  all  law  must  prove  inefficacious." 

AVherefore,  let  us  stand  in  the  way  and  seek  out  the 
old  paths.  If  we  are  to  have  the  true  sanctions  of 
morahty,  we  must  find  them  in  Law  and  Truth  eman- 
ating from  the  throne  of  a  personal  and  holy  God.  Here 
is  the  rationale  of  duty.  The  word  "  duty  "  is  radically 
identical  with  "  debt. "  Duty  is  the  debt  we  owe  to  God. 
A  man  who,  owing  a  sum  of  money,  finds  that  his  credi- 
tor is  dead  and  has  left  no  personal  representative, 
asssumes  that  his  obligation  is  cancelled.  The  bonds  of 
duty  are  loosed  in  like  manner  when  a  man  discovers,  or 
imagines  he  has  discovered,  that  there  is  no  "  personal 
God." 

The  frequent  call  for  "ethical  preaching"  in  these 
days  is  utterly  specious  and  fallacious.  The  gospel  itself 
is  distinctly  and  essentially  ethical.  The  cross  of  Christ 
is  the  greatest  tribute  paid  to  common  honesty  that  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  It  sets  forth  the  fact  that  a  just 
God,  w^ho  could  not  otherwise  remit  the  sins  of  those 
who  had  offended  against  His  holy  law,  paid  the  ransom 
by  an  infinite  outlay  of  divine  resource  in  the  death  of 
His  only -begotten  Son.  He  paid  our  debt  that  He  might 
righteously  be  "just  and  the  justifier  of  the  ungodly." 
He  would  not  if  He  could,  nor  could  He  if  He  would, 
override  the  demands  of  honesty  and  justice.    We  must 


THE   LAW   OF   HONESTY.  169 

go  to  Calvary  if  we  would  find  the  ultimate  ground  of 
the  precept,  "Owe  no  man  anything  but  to  love  one 
another." 

All  the  remainder  of  the  gospel  is  of  like  import.  The 
moment  a  man  is  delivered  from  the  obligation  of  "  the 
handwriting  of  ordinances  which  was  against  him  "  by 
faith  in  the  atonement  of  Christ,  he  is  enjoined  to  live  as 
becometh  those  that  are  "children  of  the  day."  It  is 
written,  "  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth ;  but  if  the  salt  have 
lost  its  savor,  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted ;  it  is  thence- 
forth good  for  nothing  but  to  be  cast  out  and  trodden 
under  foot  of  men. "  And  again,  "  Ye  are  the  light  of  the 
world ;  let  your  light  so  shine  before  men  that  they  may 
see  your  good  works  and  glorify  God."  Here  is  the 
ethical  code  of  all  who  truly  follow  Christ.  Be  true.  Be 
honest.  Be  sincere.  Be  transparent  as  the  light.  "Pro- 
vide things  honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men." 


THE  LAW  OF  JUSTICE. 

"the  square  deal." 

"Ye  shall  do  no  unrighteousness  in  judgment,  in  meteyard,  in  weight 
so  in  measure;  just  balances,  just  weights,  a  just  ephah  and  a  just  hin 
shall  ye  have;    I  am  the  lord  your  God."     Leviticus  19:  35.  36. 

The  name  of  President  Roosevelt  will  long  be  associ- 
ated with  two  cabalistic  phrases :  "  The  Strenuous  Life  " 
and  "  The  Square  Deal. "  By  the  former  he  means  what 
Longfellow  puts  on  this  wise: 

In  the  world's  broad  field  of  battle. 

In  the  bivouac  of  life, 
Be  not  like  dumb,  driven  cattle; 

Be  a  hero  in  the  strife. 

By  "The  Square  Deal"  is  meant  even-handed  justice; 
fair-play  in  sport  and  business,  in  poHtics  and  diplo- 
macy;  to  every  one  his  due. 

The  instinct  of  justice  has  its  ultimate  source  and 
basis  in  God.  It  is  thus  stated  in  the  Levitical  Law: 
"Ye  shall  do  no  unrighteousness  in  judgment,  in  mete- 
yard, in  weight  or  in  measure;  ye  shall  have  just  balan- 
ces, just  weights,  a  just  ephah  and  a  just  hin."  Why  ? 
Because  "I  am  the  Lord  your  God." 

We  say," God  is  love";  but  that  dictum  could  not  be 
true  were  there  not  something  behind  it.  Justice  comes 
before  mercy,  by  common  consent.    When  you  are  called 

(170) 


THE    LAW   OF   JUSTICE.  171 

on  to  pronounce  judgment  in  the  case  of  a  millionaire 
who  has  enriched  himself  by  grinding  the  faces  of  the 
poor  and  offsets  the  procedure  by  giving  a  modicum  of 
his  ill-gotten  wealth  in  charity,  what  do  you  say  ?  That 
he  is  a  philanthropist  ?  By  no  means.  You  say  that  one 
must  be  "first  just  and  then  generous."  And  rightly  so. 
God  is  love;  but  if  His  love  were  not  grounded  in  justice, 
He  would  not  be  God. 

In  raising  the  question  of  God's  equity,  we  are  bound 
to  consider  Him  from  the  standpoint  of  His  Providence 
on  the  one  hand  and  of  His  Grace  on  the  other ;  for  it  is 
only  in  this  twofold  relation  that  we  know  Him. 

Is  He  just  in  His  Providence  ?  How  then  shall  we  ac- 
count for  its  inequalities  ?  Why  do  so  many  go  afoot 
while  others  ride  on  horseback .?  Why  are  the  righteous 
so  frequently  cast  down,  while  the  wicked  flourish  like  a 
green-bay  tree  ^  Is  that  even-handed  justice  ?  If  our  life 
is  only  a  handbreadth  and  death  ends  all,  then  no;  a 
thousand  times  no !  But  suppose  we  live  forever,  what 
then?  Our  horizons  are  bounded  by  the  tops  of  the 
nearest  hills ;  we  see  no  further;  but  what  lies  beyond  .'^ 
Do  you  answer,  I  do  not  know  ?  Then  lay  your  hand 
upon  your  lips;  for  just  over  those  hills  there  may  be 
something  that  would  fully  explain  all  the  inequalities 
that  we  complain  of. 

Do  we  pass  judgment  on  a  book  when  we  have  read 
its  preface  ?  Our  life  is  merely  the  beginning  of  an  end- 
less serial.  It  is,  strictly  speaking,  not  life  at  all,  but 
merely  a  season  of  preparation  for  it. 


172  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

Once  on  a  time  a  shepherd  boy  was  stripped  by  his 
brothers  and  put  into  a  lonely  pit.  The  unfairness  of  the 
proceeding  was  so  clear  that  we  may  easily  imagine  him 
philosophizing  on  this  wise :  "  How  can  God  be  just  and 
suffer  this  ?  My  brothers  have  gone  away  with  my  coat 
and  left  me  shivering  here.  They  have  carried  away  the 
parched  corn  in  their  wallets  and  I  am  hungry.  My 
father  will  be  grieving  at  home  and  I  cannot  comfort 
him.  No,  there  is  no  justice  in  the  God  who  permits  it ! " 
Suppose  that  he  had  died  in  that  dreary  place,  what 
then?  Would  he  not  have  had  abundant  opportunity 
in  the  immeasureable  aeons  of  eternity  to  explain  the 
momentary  wrong  and  justify  God's  relation  to  it  ?  Are 
we  to  judge  of  the  infinite  circle  of  Providence  by  an 
infinitesimal  arc  of  it  ?  A  few  years  later  that  shepherd 
boy  was  viceroy  on  the  throne  of  Egypt.  Now  ask  him 
what  he  thinks  of  Providence,  and  he  will  say,  "  I  would 
not  be  upon  this  throne,  had  I  not  been  thrown  into 
that  pit." 

The  life  which  we  are  now  living  is  probationary. 
God  wants  to  make  the  best  of  us.  He  has  poor  ma- 
terial to  work  with;  but  He  has  all  time  for  His  work 
and  all  eternity  beyond  it.  We  are  His  children;  it  is 
filial  wisdom  to  trust  Him.  I  do  not  say  that  we  under- 
stand Providence;  but  only  that  we  perceive  too  little 
of  it  to  warrant  us  in  assuming  a  case  against  the  jus- 
tice of  God. 

Judge  not  the  Lord  by  feeble  sense 
But  trust  Him  for  His  grace; 


THE   LAW   OF   JUSTICE.  173 

Behind  a  frowning  providence 
He  hides  a  smiling  face. 

Blind  unbelief  is  sure  to  err 
And  scan  His  work  in  vain; 
God  is  His  own  interpreter 
And  He  will  make  it  plain. 

But  while  we  speak  with  reserve,  in  this  manner, 
respecting  the  divine  providence,  because  we  know  so 
little  of  it,  we  are  thoroughly  informed  as  to  the  divine 
grace;  and  in  this  we  are  enabled  to  form  an  opinion  as 
to  the  justice  of  God. 

He  sent  His  only  begotten  Son  into  the  world  to  live 
and  die  and  triumph  over  death  "for  us  men  and  our 
salvation."  His  life  was  the  only  perfect  expression  of 
justice  which  the  world  has  ever  seen.  He  dealt  fairly 
with  all.  He  was  never  charged  with  wronging  any  man. 
His  enemies  paid  tribute  to  His  fairness  by  saying, 
"Master,  we  know  that  Thou  art  no  respecter  of  per- 
sons." There  was  no  guile  in  His  heart  or  on  His  lips. 
He  denounced  wickedness  in  high  places  and  low  places 
alike,  and  was  always  an  impartial  champion  of  human 
rights.  His  earnest  plea  for  justice  in  behalf  of  the  ill- 
deserving  won  for  Him  the  title,  "Friend  of  Sinners." 
Fair-play  was  His  invariable  rule  and  practice.  So  wise 
was  His  discrimination  and  so  just  His  judgment  that 
the  man  who  sentenced  Him  to  death  was  forced  to  con- 
fess, "I  find  no  fault  in  Him  at  all." 

His  death  was  the  most  perfect  illustration  of  unself- 
ishness that  ever  was  seen.    He  had  done  no  wrong,  yet 


174  THE    EVOLUTION   OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

He  "  tasted  death  for  every  man."  He  died  on  a  hilltop, 
by  the  wayside,  with  His  hands  stretched  out;  as  if  to 
say,  "  Look  unto  me  all  ye  ends  of  the  earth  and  be  ye 
saved!"  Rabbi  Nicodemus  was  converted  by  His  pas- 
sion ;  and  the  penitent  robber  was  moved  to  cry,  "  Lord, 
remember  me!" 

And  the  benefits  of  His  wonderful  life  and  vicarious 
death  are  offered  alike  to  all.  The  sole  condition  is  ac- 
ceptance by  faith.  "He  that  believeth  shall  be  saved.*' 
There  is  no  discrimination  at  this  point.  Sovereigns  and 
slaves,  philosophers  and  simple  folk,  moralists  and  red- 
handed  malefactors  all  alike  must  bow  and  pass  through 
the  same  wicket-gate.  Is  not  this  even-handed  justice  ? 
Salvation  is  a  matter  of  personal  choice.  The  word  is 
"  Whosoever  will. "  If  a  man  refuses  to  be  saved  through 
Christ,  he  does  it  with  his  eyes  wide  open.  What  then  ? 
He  remains  voluntarily  under  the  law,  and  takes  the 
consequences.  There  is  no  possible  ground  of  com- 
plaint. Who  is  there  that  can  say,  "The  ways  of  the 
Lord  are  not  equal  V  Of  all  the  multitudes  who  have 
passed  into  the  unseen  world,  penitent  and  impenitent, 
there  is  not  one  who  is  not  bound  to  confess,  "  The  Lord 
is  a  righteous  Lord;  just  and  holy  are  all  His  ways!" 

But  now  as  to  ourselves.  How  do  we  stand  in  this 
matter?  God  is  just;  but  is  there  a  just  man  anywhere? 
Is  there  one  who  can  say,  "  I  have  never  wronged  my 
fellow  man  ? "  Plato  made  an  ideal  which  he  called 
Dikaios,  that  is,  "  The  just  man  " ;  but  he  never  pretended 
to  find  his  counterpart  in  actual  life.    Suppose  we  set 


THE   LAW    OF   JUSTICE.  175 

out  with  Diogenes'  lantern  in  search  of  Dikaios;  where 
shall  we  go? 

To  the  market  place  ?  The  proverb  of  business-life  is, 
" There  are  tricks  in  all  trades."  Here  is  a  combination 
of  capital  on  the  one  hand,  by  which  the  small  dealer  is 
driven  to  the  wall;  and,  on  the  other,  a  combination  of 
labor  by  which  the  non-unionist  is  deprived  of  his  right 
to  earn  his  daily  bread.    Is  that  a  square  deal  ? 

Or,  shall  we  enter  the  halls  of  Congress  ?  Is  legisla- 
tion always  fair  and  equitable?  In  1868  a  treaty  was 
made  with  China  by  which,  in  return  for  important 
concessions,  the  right  of  free  immigration  was  accorded 
to  the  people  of  that  Empire.  A  few  years  later,  in  an- 
swer to  the  demand  of  Dennis  Kearney  and  his  enfran- 
chised friends  of  "the  Sand  Lots,"  that  treaty  was 
erased,  without  saying,  By  your  leave.  Was  that  a 
square  deal  ? 

To  the  courts,  then;  for  surely  here  we  shall  find  the 
equitable  procedure,  since  these  are  "  Courts  of  Justice." 
Here  is  a  man  charged  with  embezzling  $15,000  from  a 
Life  Insurance  Company;  he  is  sentenced  to  Sing  Sing. 
Here  is  another  who  has  confessedly  made  a  fortune  by 
defrauding  the  policy  holders  of  the  same  company ;  he 
goes  scot-free.     Is  that  a  square  deal? 

But  surely  the  pulpit  is  above  suspicion.  Here  we 
shall  find  our  "just  man."  At  my  ordination  I  was  re- 
quired to  stand  up  in  the  presence  of  my  brethren  and 
enter  into  a  solemn  Covenant  in  these  terms:  "7  pro- 
mise that  I  wUl  with  all  faithfulness  teach  and  defend, 


176  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

both  in  public  and  private,  the  doctrines  established  in  the 
standards  oj  this  church."  And  to  that  covenant  I 
solemnly  affixed  my  sign  and  seal.  Now  suppose  that  I 
were  habitually  to  deny  or  call  in  question  the  doctrines 
which  are  indisputably  affirmed  in  the  symbols  referred 
to,  such  as  the  Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  the  Divinity 
of  Christ  and  the  Vicarious  Atonement,  would  you  call 
that  a  square  deal  ?  Or  would  you  think  me  an  honest 
man? 

Let  us  go  a  little  further.  In  determining  the  ques- 
tion of  fair  dealing,  I  find  myself  occupying  a  three-fold 
relation. 

At  the  outset,  I  am  bound  to  be  fair  to  myself. 

Nor  is  this  so  easy  or  natural  as  one  would  suppose. 
For  I  am  a  complex  being,  and  there  is  ever  "  a  war  in 
my  members,"  in  which  my  meaner  self  is  constantly 
trying  to  get  the  upper  hand  of  my  better  self.  The 
danger  is  that  in  the  lower  pursuits  of  life  I  may  wrong 
my  soul  and  thus  defraud  myself  forever.  I  do  that  very 
thing  when  I  exhaust  my  time  and  energy  in  getting 
together  a  little  yellow  dust  which  I  cannot  take  with 
me.  I  do  that  when  I  spend  my  life  in  chasing  the 
thistle-down  of  pleasure,  or  in  pursuing  a  sordid  ambi- 
tion which  can  give  me  only  a  wreath  of  fading  laurel. 
I  do  that  when,  being  a  sinner  and  knowing  it,  I  refuse 
the  only  possibility  of  pardon  which  is  open  before  me. 
I  do  that  when  I  refuse  to  think  on  death  and  judgment 
and  allow  myself  to  go  out  into  eternity  with  no  ade- 
quate preparation  for  it.    A  man  is  bound  to  consider 


THE   LAW   OF   JUSTICE.  177 

himself  in  this  matter;  for  he  has  no  right  to  do  himself 
an  irreparable  injury. 

This  brings  us  to  our  relations  with  our  fellow  men. 
The  rule  of  "  the  square  deal"  is  "  Live  and  let  live."  The 
Gospel  interpretation  of  it  is  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself."  Here  is  the  acid  test;  and  who  can 
endure  it.^ 

The  following  communication  recently  appeared  in 
one  of  our  morning  newspapers: 

"To  THE  Editor — Sir:  Many  years  ago  I 
came  here  from  a  country  town,  poor  as  any  boy 
could  well  be ;  found  employment  in  a  large  con- 
cern, bettered  my  position  year  after  year;  be- 
came a  partner,  then  the  head  of  the  concern. 
Made  my  fortune,  a  large  one;    now  retired. 

"  When  I  die  I  shall  leave  my  children  each  a 
fortune,  but  when  I  think  it  over  day  after  day  I 
can  only  be  ashamed  of  it  all.  I  suppose  I  was 
no  worse  than  the  others;  I  know  some  were 
worse  than  I.  I  could  always  say,  *It's  good 
business,'  but  I  forgot  that  there  was  such  a 
thing  as  a  square  deal.  If  I  could  get  the  better 
of  an  associate  or  a  customer  or  an  employee,  I 
did.  Anything  that  I  could  do  to  attain  my  own 
success  was  good  business,  and  I  did  it. 

"  I  have  given  to  charity,  headed  subscriptions, 
but  it  doesn't  satisfy  me.  I  know  what  I  have 
done  wasn't  manly.  Last  night  I  sat  with  other 
so-called  successful  men.  I  studied  them.  When 
they  can't  help  thinking,  they  think  just  as  I  do. 

"The  modern  success  is  rank  failure.  It  has 
made  this  country  rich  and  has  made  it  great;  it 


178  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

has  made  its  people  selfish  and  unprincipled.  I 
would  give  all  I  possess  to-night  if  I  could  say: 
*I  have  given  every  one  a  s(juare  deal.  I  have 
done  no  man  a  wrong. ' 

"  Think  it  over;  it  will  mean  a  lot  to  you  some 
day.  Success." 

But  the  supreme  consideration  has  to  do  with  a  man 
in  his  relations  with  God. 

Here  is  the  question,  "  Will  a  man  rob  God  ?  "  We 
belong  to  Him.  He  has  a  two-fold  proprietary  right  in 
us;  to  wit,  the  right  of  creation  and  the  right  of  pur- 
chase. We  live  and  move  and  have  our  beine:  in  Him. 
We  are  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  His  only  begotten  Son. 
So  it  is  written,  "Ye  are  not  your  own;  ye  are  bought 
with  a  price,  not  with  silver  and  gold,  but  with  the  pre- 
cious blood  of  Christ  as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish 
and  without  spot. "  These  things  being  so — and  they  are 
seldom  denied — it  follows  that  we  are  under  solemn  ob- 
ligations as  stewards  of  God.  Our  time  and  energy,  our 
powers  of  body  and  soul,  every  farthing  of  our  earthly 
possessions,  are  His  by  proprietary  right;  they  are  ours 
only  in  trust  for  Him.  What  then  shall  be  said  of  the 
man  who  sleeps  all  night  in  God's  watch-care,  yet  does 
not  say  at  daybreak,  "I  thank  Thee"  ?  And  what  of  the 
man  who  is  so  absorbed  in  selfish  pursuits  as  practically 
to  ignore  his  obligations  to  God  ?  And  what  of  the  man 
who,  tacitly  believing  in  the  Bible  and  the  philosophy  of 
the  Gospel,  refuses  to  acknowledge  Christ  at  all.^  Is 
that  justice?     Is  that  common  honesty.?     Is  that  "a 


THE   LAW    OF   JUSTICE.  179 

square  deal "  ?  Let  men  who  pride  themselves  on  their 
personal  honor  in  the  common  relations  of  life  meditate 
on  these  things.  Is  not  God  entitled  to  the  usual  cour- 
tesy which,  in  return  for  kindness,  we  tender  our  fellow 
men  ?    "  Will  a  man  rob  God  ?  " 

If  our  hearts  condemn  us  in  this  matter,  what  shall 
be  done  ?  How  shall  we  purge  ourselves  of  unfairness, 
in  all  these  various  relations  ?  Let  us  begin  at  the  be- 
ginning and  "get  right  with  God.''  And  the  only  way 
to  do  that  is  to  accept,  frankly  and  unreservedly,  the 
proffer  of  His  grace  in  the  gospel  of  His  beloved  Son.  To 
undertake  to  set  ourselves  right  in  any  other  way  is  like 
prescribing  for  the  superficial  symptoms  of  a  malady,  or 
undertaking  to  build  a  house  from  the  roof  downward. 
We  cannot  move,  in  this  matter  of  fair  dealing,  until  we 
become  reconciled  with  God.  And  this  is  the  purpose 
of  "  the  Gospel  of  ReconciHation. "  To  accept  Christ  is 
to  enter  into  harmony  with  the  laws  of  our  being  as 
marked  out  in  the  divine  counsels.  And,  having  done 
that,  all  the  rest  is  to  follow  Christ,  in  pursuance  of  His 
Golden,  Rule  "  Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do 
unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them."  This  is  to  live  an 
honest  life;  and  to  follow  any  other  course  is  to  fall 
short  of  it. 


D 


^ 


0 


THE  LAW  OF  KINDNESS. 

"sweet  saint  charity.'* 

"Love  thinketh  no  evil."     I  Corinthians  13:  5. 

We  come  now  to  "the  Psalm  of  Charity";  and, 
strange  to  tell,  the  singer  is  Paul.  We  know  him  as 
logician,  rhetorician,  polemic,  theologian — leading  us 
skilfully  through  the  intricate  mazes  of  argument — 
but  here  he  dons  the  poet's  mantle  and  sings  the 
praises  of  the  master-grace.  The  song  is  a  parenthe- 
sis, occurring  in  the  midst  of  a  doctrinal  demonstration. 
It  was  a  custom  in  the  Agora  to  fill  with  minstrelsy  the 
interval  between  the  gladiatorial  combats;  but  here  it 
is  the  gladiator  himself  who  rests  upon  his  sword  to 
sing ;  and  his  measure  has  every  distinctive  mark  of  the 
divine  afflatus.  The  theme  is  for  him  an  unusual  one. 
Had  he  pronounced  a  panegyric  on  logic  or  eloquence, 
or  rhetoric  or  dogmatics,  it  would  have  been  a  matter  of 
course;  but  behold,  Paul  the  dialectician  Hfts  his  voice 
in  eulogy  of  Love ! 

He  has  just  been  discoursing  on  the  charismata,  or 
spiritual  gifts.  They  were  necessary  to  the  church  in 
those  formative  days.  Tongues  and  interpretation, 
healing  and  prophecy,  these  were  special  endowments 
vouchsafed  to  the  church  in  her  early  struggle  for  a 

(180) 


THE   LAW   OF   KINDNESS.  181 

foothold  on  earth.  One  of  the  current  questions  among 
the  Christians  of  that  time  was,  "  Which  is  the  greatest 
of  the  charismata f  Paul  says,  "Covet  earnestly  the 
best  of  them;  and  yet  show  I  unto  you  a  better  way." 

He  is  writing  to  the  members  of  the  Corinthian 
church.  He  seems  to  be  present  in  a  public  assembly 
where  one  possessed  of  the  gift  of  eloquence  pours  forth 
breathing  thoughts  in  burning  words.  "Has_^e 
Charity?"  asks  this  bystander;  "No?  Then  'tis 
nothing!"  He  hears  another,  possessed  of  the  gift  of 
prophecy,  uttering  dreams  and  visions:  "Has  he 
Charity  ?  No  ?  Then  'tis  nothing !' '  And  when  a  third 
displays  the  gift  of  interpretation  he  still  inquires,  "  Has 
he  Charity  ?  No  ?  Then  all  is  but  sounding  brass  or  a 
clanging  cymbal ;  it  profiteth  nothing. " 

The  "better  way"  is  Charity.  All  other  gifts  are 
incomparable  with  it;  since  Love,  or  Charity,  is  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law.  It  o'ertops  all  the  chxirismata, 
outshining  and  surviving  them.  "Now  abide  Faith, 
Hope,  Charity,  but  the  greatest  of  these  is  Charity." 

The  night  has  a  thousand  eyes,  and  the  day  but  one, 
But  the  light  of  the  whole  world  dies  with  the  setting  sun. 
The  mind  has  a  thousand  eyes,  and  the  heart  but  one. 
But  the  light  of  the  whole  life  dies  when  love  is  done. 

f  Thejwgrd  in  the^qriginal  is  agaj^e-  The  New  Version 
renders  it  Love.  It  matters  not,  so  that  we  understand 
its  comprehensiveness.  It  is  love,  charity,  neighbor- 
liness,  benevolence,  altruism,  kindness,  benignity,  what 
you  will.   "  Names  name  it  not. "  It  includes  them  all. 


182  THE    EVOLUTION   OF    A   CHRISTIAN. 

In  this  disquisition  on  Love  the  apostle  names 
fifteen  distinctive  features  of  it.  For  our  present  pur- 
pose we  select  but  one:  "Love  thinketh  no  evil."  We 
are  here  advised  as  to  the  duty  of  looking  on  the  bright 
side  of  character.  It  is  an  old  proverb,  "Faults  are 
thick  where  love  is  thin."  If  we  walk  in  the  "better 
way"  we  shall  not  hastily  impute  evil,  or  put  a  wrong 
construction  on  well-meant  words,  or  misunderstand 
motives  or  suspect  the  sincerity  of  those  around  us.  If 
we  walk  in  the  "better  way"  we  shall  not  gossip  or 
backbite  or  give  place  to  a  censorious  spirit.  As  far  as 
possible  we  shall  speak  favorably  of  our  neighbors ;  and 
as  to  their  errors,  unless  a  definite  purpose  is  to  be 
answered  by  an  exposure,  we  shall  prefer  not  to  mention 
them. 

f^  This  is  not  to  say  thaj jove  is  WijidUoJ_nig[uity  or  slow, 
on  occasioiL^Jojeproye  it.  The  most  scathing  denunci- 
al:ioh  That  ever  was  heard,  "  Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  hypocrites,  how  shall  ye  escape  the  dam- 
nation of  hell.^"  fell  from  ^ejips  of  Incarnate  Love. 
It  is  recorded  that  Hannah  Dustin,  held  as  a  prisoner  by 
the  Indians  on  the  little  Island  of  Merrimac,  rose  in  the 
middle  of  the  night  while  her  savage  guards  were  sleep- 

if'  ing,  gazed  on  the  faces  of  her  children  bound  and 
reserved  to  death,  then  drew  a  tomahawk  from  the 
girdle  of  a  sleeping  brave  as  gently  as  if  she  were  pluck- 
ing a  feather  from  the  wing  of  a  sleeping  dove,  and 
passing  around  the  circle  fiercely  brained  one  after  an- 
other until  all  the  ten  lay  dead.  It  was  Love  that  nerved 


THE    LAW    OF   KINDNESS.  183 

her  arm ;    it  was  Love  that  kindled  the  fire  in  her  eyes. 

In  Hke  manner  he  who  walks  in  the  "better  way" 
will  be  aggressive  for  the  pubHc  good,  will  not  hesitate 
to  denounce  evil  in  high  places  and  low  places,  will  cry 
aloud  and  spare  not.  He  who  loves  the  youth  of  our 
cities  will,  by  the  token  of  that  Love,  make  war  un- 
ceasing on  dives  and  dramshops  and  all  strongholds  of 
iniquity.  Love  is  the  most  fierce  and  fearless  of  the 
graces.  It  hates  evil,  and,  for  the  saving  of  souls,  leaves 
nothing  undone  to  destroy  it.  Because  it  loves  the  sinner 
it  hates  the  sin,  and  can  make  no  allowance  for  or  com- 
promise with  it. 

But  Love  has  nothing  in  common  with  a  censorious 
spirit.  A  habitual  fault-finder  is  disqualified  for  the 
role  of  a  reformer.  Love  and  gratuitous  criticism  are 
ever  at  variance.  Love  puts  the  best  construction  on 
everything  it  sees.  It  thinketh  no  evil.  Let  us  note  some 
of  the  reasons  why  we  should,  as  far  as  possible,  speak 
well  of  our  fellow-men. 

I.    It  is  Christlike. 

How  sympathetic  and  gracious  and  helpful  He  ever 
was!  He  did,  indeed  denounce  the  evil  on  every  side; 
but  His  hands  were  ever  stretched  out  to  the  evil-doer 
in  entreaty  to  turn  from  His  evil  ways.  J3e_died  for 
those  who  hated  Him,  and,  with  His  latest  breath,  put 
the  best  possible  construction  on  their  murderous  deed, 
saying,  "  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do!*'  He  had  a  kind  word  for  the  Magdalen,  a 
pitying  glance  for  the  dying  thief. 


184  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

In  one  of  the  Apocryphal  Gospels  it  is  related  that, 
a  mad  dog  having  been  slain  in  a  public  street  of 
Jerusalem,  while  the  bystanders  were  thrusting  it  with 
their  feet  and  showering  upon  the  dead  brute  vile 
epithets,  they  saw  Jesus  coming.  His  habit  of  kind 
speaking  was  proverbial.  "Now,"  said  they,  "let  us 
hear  what  He  will  say  of  this  despicable  thing."  He 
stood  looking  on  in  silence  for  a  moment;  then  said, 
"  His  teeth  are  like  pearls."  Was  anything  lost  in  speak- 
ing thus  graciously  ?  Would  anything  have  been  gained 
by  another  foot-thrust  ?  And  why,  beloved  in  Christ, 
should  we  not  follow  in  His  steps,  passing  kindly  judg- 
ment, as  far  as  possible,  upon  all  ? 

IL_  Consider  our  ignorance. 
/  WTio  are  we  that  we  should  assume  to  know  what 
passes  in  a  human  breast  ?    How  little  we  understand 
the  conditions,  the  environment,  the  sore  temptations, 
of  those  who  fall  into  sin ! 

O  ye  wha  are  sae  guid  yoursel*, 

Sae  pious  and  sae  holy, 
Ye*ve  nought  to  do  but  mark  and  tell 

Your  neebor's  fauts  and  folly. 

O,  gently  scan  your  brother  man. 

Still  gentler  sister  woman; 
Though  each  may  gang  a  kennin*  wrang. 

To  step  aside  is  human. 
One  point  must  still  be  greatly  dark. 

The  moving  why  they  do  it; 
And  just  as  lamely  can  ye  mark 

How  far  perhaps  they  rue  it 


THE   LAW    OF    KINDNESS.  185 

Who  made  the  heart,  'tis  He  alone 

Decidedly  can  try  us; 
He  knows  each  chord — its  various  tone, 

Each  spring — its  various  bias. 
Then  at  the  balance  let's  be  mute; 

We  never  can  adjust  it; 
What's  done  we  partly  may  compute. 

But  know  not  what's  resisted. 

A  member  of  my  congregation  tells  me  that  one  night 
she  and  her  fellow-passengers  in  a  Pullman  car  were 
greatly  disturbed  by  the  crying  of  a  child.  Up  and  down 
the  aisle  walked  a  man,  hour  after  hour,  with  the  wailing 
infant  in  his  arms.  At  length  one  of  the  passengers 
parted  the  curtains  of  his  berth  and  said,  "  Where's  the  I 
mother  of  that  child  ?  For  goodness'  sake  find  her.  We  / 
can't  bear  this  any  longer."  The  man  answered,  **I*m 
sorry,  friend,  but  I  can't  help  it.  This  isn't  my  child. 
The  mother  died  suddenly  this  side  of  San  Francisco; 
her  body  is  in  the  baggage  car.  I've  volunteered  to  take 
the  little  one  to  its  mother's  friends  in  York  State." 
At  once  the  complainant  jumped  from  his  berth,  eager 
to  relieve  him;  nor  was  there  any  further  murmuring. 
But,  alas,  for  want  of  knowledge  as  to  motives  and  cir- 
cumstances, we  are  always  blundering  in  this  way. 
?  ,  We  speak  of  justice,  but  what  do  we  know  of  it? 
"  Vengeance  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord ;  I  will  repay.  "* 
How  many  and  lamentable  are  our  mistakes  whenever 
we  undertake  to  administer  justice.  We  try  offend- 
ers by  lynch  law  and  hang  them  up  at  eventide,  only 
to  discover  before  break-of-day  that  we  have  hung  the 


186  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

wrong  man.  And  unfortunately  it  is  too  late  to  cut  him 
down.  The  damage  is  done.  Of  justice  we  know  little 
or  nothing.  Let  us  leave  that  to  an  omniscient  God. 
Our  function  is  with  mercy.  That  falls  measurably 
within  our  sphere  of  knowledge,  and  we  are  safe  to 
administer  it.  But  to  speak  as  if  we  were  sitting  on  the 
wool-sack  is  to  be  vastly  presumptuous.  It  is  falling 
into  the  error  of  Phaeton,  who  assayed,  unskilled,  to 
drive  the  chariot  of  the  sun. 

III.  We  work  incalculable  injury  by  our  unchar- 
itable treatment  of  others. 

There  are  people  who  would  not  prick  you  with  a 
bodkin,  yet  do  not  hesitate  to  smirch  your  reputation. 
They  would  not  steal  a  farthing,  but  rob  their  neighbors 
without  scruple  of  that  which  is  better  than  life ;  for — 

Good  name  in  man  or  woman,  dear  my  lord, 

Is  the  immediate  jewel  of  their  souls. 

Who  steals  my  purse  steals  trash;    'tis  something,  nothing; 

*Twas  mine,  'tis  his,  and  has  been  slave  to  thousands; 

But  he  that  filches  from  me  my  good  name 

Robs  me  of  that  which  not  enriches  him 

And  makes  me  poor  indeed. 

When  the  martyr  Taylor  was  d3dng  at  the  stake, 
one  of  the  bystanders  cast  a  flaming  torch  which  struck 
his  eyes  and  blinded  them,  "and  brake  his  face  that  the 
blood  ran  down  his  visage."  That  was  base,  cowardly, 
brutal  beyond  words;  yet  not  more  base,  more  brutal, 
or  more  cowardly  than  to  wantonly  injure  a  man  in  his 
reputation,  to  put  him  to  an  open  shame  by  blackening 


THE   LAW    OF    KINDNESS.  187 

his  honor.     This  is  the  very  chmax  of  inhumanity; 
baseness  can  no  further  go. 

IV.    We  Hve  in  glass  houses. 

The  old  proverb,  "People  who  live  in  glass  houses  U:^ 
should  not  throw  stones,"  had  its  origin,  probably,  in 
our  Master's  words  respecting  the  woman  taken  in 
adultery.  The  Rabbis  had  dragged  her  up  the  temple 
steps  and  cast  her  upon  the  pavement,  saying,  "  Moses 
in  the  law  commandeth  that  such  should  be  stoned,  but 
what  sayest  thou  .^ "  He  stooped  for  a  moment  in  silence 
and  seemed  to  be  writing  on  the  marble  floor,  then 
quietly  said,  "Let  him  that  is  without  sin  among  you 
cast  the  first  stone. "  Why  don't  they  throw  ?  O  master 
of  Israel,  with  thy  broad  phylacteries,  so  circumspectly 
pious,  cast  thou  a  stone  at  her!  O  venerable  Sanhe- 
drist,  having  the  law  written  upon  thy  frontlets,  against 
whom  no  breath  of  calumny  has  ever  come,  why  dost 
thou  falter  .^  Cast  a  stone  at  her !  O  illustrious  priest, 
minister  at  God's  altar,  lo,  these  many  years,  why  is  thy 
face  flushed  with  sudden  crimson,  and  wherefore  dost 
thou  not  cast  a  stone  .'^  It  is  written  that  they  which 
heard  the  Master's  word,  "being  convicted  by  their 
own  conscience,  went  out  one  by  one,  beginning  at  the 
eldest  even  unto  the  last." 

Our  Lord  said,  also,  "  Why  beholdest  thou  the  mote 
that  is  in  thy  brother's  eye,  but  considerest  not  the  beam 
that  is  in  thine  own  eye  "^  Or  how  wilt  thou  say  to  thy 
brother.  Let  me  pull  out  the  mote  out  of  thine  eye,  and 
behold  a  beam  is  in  thine  own  eye  .^     Thou  hypocrite. 


188  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

first  cast  out  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye,  and  then 
shalt  thou  see  clearly  to  cast  out  the  mote  out  of  thy 
brother's  eye."  The  word  here  rendered  "mote "is 
chip  or  splinter;  that  is,  of  the  same  material  as  the 
beam.  Here  is  a  suggestion  of  the  fact  that  the  faults 
which  we  are  most  prone  to  criticise  in  others  are  those 
which  are  most  deeply  seated  in  ourselves.  Tell  me  the 
general  drift  of  a  man's  aspersions  and  I  will  show  you 
his  darling  sin.  It  would  be  prudent  in  us  all  to  take 
advantage  of  that  provision  which  in  courts  of  justice 
excuses  a  witness  from  testifying  against  a  culprit  when 
to  do  so  would  incriminate  himself.  "  It  takes  a  rogue 
to  catch  a  rogue. "  All  captious  criticism  is  in  the  nature 
of  State's  evidence. 

V.  We  are  on  our  way  to  Judgment;  and  by  our 
judgments  of  our  brethren  we  are  framing  the  rule 
which  will  apply  to  ourselves  at  that  great  day. 

"  Judge  not,"  said  the  Master,  "  that  ye  be  not  judged. 
For  with  what  judgment  ye  judge  ye  shall  be  judged, 
and  with  what  measure  ye  mete  it  shall  be  measured  to 
you  again."  We  may  have  what  we  will  at  the  Great 
Assize,  mercy  or  justice.  If  we  here  minister  justice  it 
will  there  be  ministered  unto  us.  But,  blessed  be  God, 
heaven  is  full  of  mercy,  if  we  will  have  it.  The  Moslems 
say  that  two  spirits  are  set  to  guard  the  actions  of  every 
man.  At  night  they  fly  up  to  heaven  and  report  to  the 
recording  angel.  The  one  says,  "  He  hath  wrought  this 
good,  O  angel!  Write  it  ten  times!"  The  other  says, 
"He  hath  wrought  this  evil;  but  forbear,  O  angel,  yet 


THE  LAW  OF   KINDNESS.  I8d 

seven  hours,  in  order  that  he  may  repent!"  It  is  true 
that  God  delighteth  in  mercy;  but  if  we  want  it  we 
must  here  accord  it. 

How  otherwise  may  we  offer  the  prayer,  "Forgive 
us  our  trespasses  as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass 
against  us".'^  How  otherwise  can  we  with  heart  and 
understanding  sing, — 

Teach  me  to  feel  another's  woe, 

To  hide  the  fault  I  see; 
The  mercy  I  to  others  show. 

That  mercy  show  to  me. 

VI.  In  deahng  ungraciously  with  others  we  lose  the 
blessed  opportunity  of  kindness. 

There  is  no  telling  what  good  may  be  done  by  a  word 
of  sympathy  and  helpfulness,  one  of  those  "words  in 
due  season  "  which  are  like  apples  of  gold  in  baskets  of 
silver. 

The  warden  of  the  New  Bedford  jail  was  leading 
through  the  corridors  a  party  of  visitors,  an  old  man 
with  several  ladies  and  a  little  girl;  they  came  to  the 
foot  of  a  stairway  where  a  prisoner  was  scrubbing  the 
floor.  This  man  was  a  desperate  criminal,  serving  a 
Hfe  sentence.  He  had  been  a  leader  in  many  mutinies 
and  outbreaks,  and  had  been  punished  in  vain.  "  Jim," 
said  the  warden,  "carry  this  Httle  girl  upstairs."  The 
prisoner  looked  up,  scowled  and  turned  away.  The 
child  put  her  arms  about  him,  saying,  "  If  you  will,  I'll 
kiss  you."  He  hesitated  a  moment,  then  Ufted  her  on 
his  shoulders  as  tenderly  as  any  father  could  have  done. 


190  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

and  carried  her  up.  At  the  top  of  the  stairs  she  raised 
her  face;  he  gravely  stooped  and  kissed  it,  then  returned 
to  liis  task.  And  the  warden  will  tell  you  that  Jim  has 
been  a  "trusty"  ever  since  that  day.  The  kindness  of 
the  child  transformed  him. 

Let  us,  therefore,  speak  the  kind  word,  lend  a  hand 
and  do  good  as  we  have  opportunity  unto  all  men. 
"  Help  thy  fallen  brother  rise,  wliile  the  days  are  going 
by."  It  may  be  that  some  of  you  can  remember  Blon- 
din,  who  years  ago  made  dangerous  journeys  along  a 
wire  stretched  across  the  Niagara  below  the  falls. 
Sometimes  he  carried  heavy  burdens  on  his  back.  The 
shores  were  lined  with  spectators.  Did  they  shout  and 
applaud  when  they  saw  him  poised  above  the  abyss? 
Did  they  loudly  reprove  his  folly  .^  Did  they  obtrude 
unnecessary  counsel  upon  him.^  If  he  stumbled  and 
seemed  to  lose  his  balance,  wavering  for  an  instant, 
what  then  ?  Ah,  they  held  their  breath !  Their  very 
hearts  stood  still!  Every  one  of  us  on  life's  journey 
bears  his  burden,  oftentimes  so  heavy  as  to  tax  his 
utmost  strength,  along  a  path  as  narrow  and  dangerous 
as  the  sword-blade  in  the  dream  of  Mirza.  Every  one 
of  us  needs  the  kindly  word,  the  helping  hand.  O  for 
the  spirit  of  Charity!  All  the  graces  have  done  virtu- 
ously, but  thou,  Charity,  excellest  them  all! 


THE  DUTY  OF  FAULT-FINDING. 


"Faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend."     Proverbs  27:  6. 
"If  thy  brother  trespass  against  thee,  rebuke  him."     Luke  17:  3. 
"God  commendeth  His  love  toward  us  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners 
Christ  died  for  us."     Romans  0:  8. 

I  call  your  attention  to  the  most  difficult  and  deli- 
cate, the  most  neglected  and  overdone,  the  most  dis- 
agreeable and  magnanimous  of  duties,  to  wit,  the  duty 
of  fault-finding. 

The  friendliest  man  that  ever  lived  was  Jesus.  He 
came  from  heaven  to  do  two  things:  first,  to  make 
atonement  for  sin;  so  that  all  who  are  willing  to  re- 
ceive Him  by  faith  should  not  perish  but  have  eternal 
life.  And  second,  to  set  an  example  of  right-living,  so 
that  all  who  are  willing  to  follow  in  His  steps  may 
attain  to  character  in  the  full  stature  of  a  man. 

We,  then,  who  profess  to  believe  in  Christ  as  our 
Saviour  are  to  receive  Him  as  our  Exemplar  in  the 
right  discharge  of  the  duties  of  life. 

Now  Jesus  was  a  fault-finder.  He  spared  neither  His 
foes  nor  His  friends,  on  occasion.  In  the  interest  of 
truth  and  righteousness  He  laid  bare  the  utter  meanness 
and  insincerity  of  the  religious  leaders  of  His  time, 
saying,  "Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypo- 
crites, generation  of  vipers;    how  shall  ye  escape  the 

(191) 


192  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

damnation  of  hell  ? "  Nor  did  He  spare  His  disciples 
when  reproof  was  in  order;  as  when  He  said  to  angry 
John  and  James,  "Ye  know  not  what  spirit  ye  are  of"; 
and  to  tempting  Peter,  "Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan; 
thou  savorest  not  the  things  that  be  of  God  but  those 
that  be  of  men.'*  We  must  be  fault-finders,  therefore, 
if  we  propose  to  follow  in  His  steps. 

The  censorious  man  is  ubiquitous :  like  the  poor,  we 
have  him  always  with  us.  All  sorts  of  colloquial 
titles  are  applied  to  him ;  but,  call  him  what  you  please, 
he  is  never  agreeable.  A  scold  at  home,  a  pessimist  in 
society,  a  mugwump  in  politics,  a  martinet  in  the 
church;  he  is  everywhere  a  cumberer  of  the  ground. 
Nothing  suits  him;  nobody  pleases  him.  He  is  like 
Momus  among  the  ancient  gods,  who  ended  his 
long  career  of  criticism  by  finding  fault  with  Vulcan's 
man,  because  he  had  no  windows  in  his  breast  so  that 
people  might  see  what  was  going  on  within;  with 
Neptune's  bull,  because  his  horns  were  not  beneath 
his  eyes  so  that  he  might  direct  his  attack;  and  with 
Minerva's  house,  because  it  had  no  wheels  to  enable 
her  to  move  away  from  troublesome  neighbors.  For 
this,  Momus  was  cast  out  of  Olympus;  unfortunately 
we  cannot  get  rid  of  the  fault-finder  in  that  way. 

The  man  at  the  other  extreme,  however,  is  no  less 
insufferable.  He  sees  the  strong  pursuing  the  weak 
and  has  nothing  to  say.  He  hears  the  truth  denied  and 
keeps  silence.  The  times  are  out  of  joint;  but  why 
should  he  trouble  himself  to  correct  them  ?    Evil-doers 


THE   DUTY   OF   FAULT-FINDING.  193 

are  abroad;  but  who  set  him  as  a  watchman  upon  the 
heights?  If  he  be  a  preacher,  he  preaches  smooth 
things,  flattering  the  infirmities  of  those  who  have 
itching  ears.  His  philosophy  is  briefly  contained  in 
the  proverb  "The  crooked  cannot  be  made  straight.'* 
He  sees  the  wounded  man  on  the  Bloody  Way  and 
placidly  leaves  him  to  the  good  Samaritan.  He  is  a 
cynic,  serene  as  Diogenes,  who  asked  nothing  of  the 
passer-by  but  that  he  would  stand  out  of  his  sunlight. 
He  has  never  heard  the  injunction,  "Cry  aloud  and 
spare  not  and  show  the  people  their  sins ! " 

Let  it  be  understood  that  fault-finding  is  a  duty. 
True  friendship  dares  to  wound.  As  Seneca  said,  "  I 
love  not  my  friend  if  I  offend  him  not."  Or  as  Moses 
said,  "Thou  shalt  in  any  wise  rebuke  thy  neighbor, 
and  not  suffer  sin  upon  him.'*  Or  as  Jesus  said,  "If 
thy  brother  trespass  against  thee,  rebuke  him." 

But  fault-finding  is  more  than  a  duty;  it  is  an  art. 
The  thing  must  be  done;  but  the  question  is,  How 
to  do  it.^  And  here  is  where  the  example  of  Jesus 
helps  us.  This  duty,  like  all  others,  must  be  inter- 
preted in  the  light  of  His  teaching  and  example.  Our 
purpose,  therefore,  is  to  discover  how  Jesus  did  it. 

At  the  outset,  the  Motive  must  be  looked  at. 

Jesus  said  He  came  into  the  world  to  seek  and  to 
save.  And  whatsoever  He  did  was  in  line  with  that 
purpose.  Our  life  as  His  followers  must  be  formu- 
lated along  the  same  benevolent  lines.  In  all  our 
criticism,  of  friends  and  foes  alike,  we  must  be  actuated 


194  THE    EVOLUTION   OF    A   CHRISTIAN. 

by  a  supreme  desire  to  bring  them  back  to  truth  and 
righteousness.  There  is  no  room  here  for  envy  or 
maHce.  The  philosophy  of  the  world  is  briefly  com- 
prehended in  the  words  of  Cain,  "Am  I  my  brother's 
keeper.?"  With  that  the  philosophy  of  Christ  is  dis- 
tinctly at  odds.  A  man  is  discovered  in  the  act  of 
committing  suicide.  Christ  says,  "We  must  save  this 
man."  Cain  says,  "  It  is  his  own  affair;  let  him  hang." 
Christ  says,  "  No;  he  is  my  brother  and  I  am  his  keeper; 
I  cannot  let  him  hang."  Cain  says,  "Is  not  his  life  his 
own .?  Is  not  the  rope  his  own  "^  May  he  not  do  what 
he  will  with  both  "^  "  Christ  says,  "  No,  it  devolves  upon 
us  to  see  that  he  does  no  harm  to  himself  "  Cain 
says,  "He  is  a  cumberer  of  the  ground  and  the  world 
would  be  well  rid  of  him."  Christ  says,  "No;  there 
are  di\dne  possibilities  in  him;  let  us  put  him  on  his 
feet  again."  And  to  all  His  people  He  cries,  "Come, 
let  us  cut  this  man  down  and  make  a  better  man  of 
him!" 

We  observe,  further,  that  Jesus  was  always  Just  in 
Ilis  fault-finding,  and  in  this  we  must  be  like  Him. 

Sut  there's  the  difficulty.  We  know  little  about 
justice.  We  are  so  ignorant  of  the  motives  and  the 
singular  trials  and  temptations  of  men. 

It  was  an  easy  matter  for  Jesus  to  be  just,  because 
He  knew  what  was  in  man.  We  are  to  exercise  justice 
only  in  cases  where  the  moral  quality  of  the  act  is 
perfectly  clear;  in  other  cases  we  must  needs  condemn 
the  sin,  but  leave  the  sinner  with  God.     And  in  no 


THE   DUTY   OF   FAULT-FINDING.  195 

case  are  we  at  liberty  to  pass  hasty  or  ill-considered 
judgment  on  any  of  our  fellow  men. 

It  is  said  that  when  the  Roman  magistrates  sen- 
tenced a  prisoner,  they  had  a  bundle  of  rods  nearby, 
tied  with  many  knots,  to  the  intent  that,  while  the 
beadle  was  busy  untying  them,  the  court  might  have 
time  for  a  sober  second  thought.  AIsls,  we  often- 
times lay  on  the  rod  and  do  our  thinking  afterward! 
The  Scriptural  rule  is,  "  Be  swift  to  hear,  slow  to  speak, 
slow  to  wrath." 

And  again,  if  we  are  to  be  like  Jesus  in  the  dis- 
charge of  this  duty,  we  must  be  clothed  with  Charity. 

This  does  not  mean  that  we  are  to  be  oblivious  of 
wrong  or  injustice.  They  say  that  love  is  blind.  But 
"Charity  thinketh  no  evil";  that  is,  it  puts  the  best 
construction  upon  the  conduct  of  a  man.  It  prefers 
to  see  the  good  rather  than  the  bad.  It  recognizes  the 
fact  that  there  is  a  bright  side  to  the  character  of  every 
one.  There  is  a  Russian  fable  which  says  that  the 
swine  Kavron  made  its  way  through  the  gardens 
of  a  lordly  mansion  into  the  barnyard,  where  it  reveled 
m  filth.  On  its  return  the  neighbors  cried,  "What 
found  you,  Kavron  ?  They  do  say  that  the  garden  is 
full  of  flowers  and  the  house  of  pearls  and  diamonds!" 
And  Kavron  answered,  "I  found  naught  but  heaps  of 
offal."  Thus  the  critic  finds  what  he  is  looking  for; 
and  our  perverted  nature  not  infrequently  prefers  to 
find  the  evil  rather  than  the  good.  The  part  of  charity 
is  never  to  expose  the  evil  for  the  sake  of  comment 


196  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

or  exposure,  but  always  with  the  intent  of  correcting  it. 

We  have  further  light  on  the  proper  discharge  of 
this  duty  in  the  words  of  Jesus,  "Why  beholdest  the 
mote  in  thy  brother's  eye  but  considerest  not  the  beam 
that  is  in  thine  own  eye?" 

Spurgeon  tells  of  a  well-known  lunatic  who  used  to 
go  up  and  down,  muttering,  "God  save  the  fool!"  So 
Shakespeare  says. 

The  jury,  passing  on  the  prisoner's  life 
May  in  the  sworn  twelve  have  a  thief  or  two. 
Guiltier  than  him  they  try. 

It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  we  are  to  be  estopped 
from  fault-finding  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  we  are 
conscious  of  sin.  But  we  are  bound  to  make  sure 
that  we  are  bravely  resisting  in  ourselves  that  which 
we  condemn  in  others.  A  man  with  a  flask  in  his 
pocket  is  a  poor  preacher  of  temperance.  It  would 
lend  weight  to  the  argument  of  the  Army  officers  who 
are  just  now  pleading  for  a  restoration  of  the  beer 
canteen,  if  the  public  could  be  advised  that  they  them- 
selves were  temperate  men.  "Take  heed  to  thyself; 
first  cast  out  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye,  then  shalt 
thou  see  clearly  to  cast  out  the  mote  out  of  thy  brother's 
eye." 

And  it  behooves  us  to  be  Open  and  Above-board  in 
our  criticism  of  others. 

The  rule  of  Jesus  is,  "If  thou  hast  aught  against 
thy  brother;  go  tell  him  betwixt  thee  and  him  alone.** 
No  gossip.    No  backbiting.    Come  out  of  your  covert! 


THE   DUTY    OF   FAULT-FINDING.  197 

Out  into  the  open!  The  meanest  man  in  Scripture  is 
Shimei,  who  threw  mud  and  stones  at  David  from 
behind  a  hedge.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  Paul  that  he 
"withstood  Peter  to  the  face";  and  history  records 
that  they  were  the  better  friends  for  it.  But  this  is 
not  the  usual  way.  A  tells  B  that  C  is  no  better  than 
he  ought  to  be ;  their  wives  discuss  it  over  the  tea  cups ; 
and  all  the  neighbors  are  by  the  ears.  As  Dean  Swift 
says,  they — 

Convey  a  libel  with  a  frown 
And  wink  a  reputation  down; 
Or,  by  the  tossing  of  a  fan, 
Describe  the  lady  and  the  man! 

This  is  the  part  of  cowardice  and  ill-becoming  in  those 
who  profess  to  follow  Christ. 

It  must  be  added  that  fault-finding,  after  the  Christian 
method,  requires  the  utmost  Tact. 

Take  care!  A  mote  that  has  imbedded  itself  in 
the  tissues  of  the  eye  cannot  be  extracted  with  the 
naked  hand,  much  less  with  red-hot  pinchers.  The 
most  insufferable  man  in  the  world  is  the  one  who 
speaks  of  himself  boastfully  as  "a  blunt  man."  He 
"calls  a  spade  a  spade,"  and  delights  in  saying  un- 
pleasant things.  His  method  is  the  very  opposite  of 
Christ's.  What  tact  and  gentleness  were  displayed  in 
the  Lord's  rebuke  of  Peter,  who  had  denied  him  thrice 
with  a  bitter  curse;  he  turned  and  looked  at  him,  and 
Peter  "  went  out  and  wept  bitterly."  That  look  had  ex- 
posed the  dark  recesses  of  his  soul.     And  what  skill 


198  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

was  displayed  in  Christ's  reproof  of  the  woman  at  the 
well.  He  saith  unto  her,  "Give  me  to  drink."  She 
answered,  "  IIow  is  it  that  thou  being  a  Jew  askest 
drink  of  me  who  am  a  Samaritan?"  He  saith,  "If 
thou  knewest  who  it  is  that  saith.  Give  me  to  drink, 
thou  wouldst  have  asked  of  Him  and  He  would  have 
given  thee  living  water."  She  saith,  "Sir,  give  me  this 
water  that  I  thirst  not  neither  come  hither  to  draw." 
He  answered,  "Go  call  thy  husband  and  come  hither!" 
It  was  at  this  point  that  the  iron  entered  her  soul; 
and  thus  He  drew  the  sinner  to  Him.  Or  where  will 
you  find  such  tact  and  tenderness  as  in  Christ's  treat- 
ment of  the  poor  creature  taken  in  adultery  and  dragged 
before  Him  by  the  religious  leaders,  who  clamored 
for  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law.  He  saw  her  con- 
trition in  the  hiding  of  her  crimson  face.  He  stooped 
and  wrote  his  judgment  on  the  pavement:  "Let  him 
that  is  without  sin  cast  the  first  stone  at  her"  He 
rose  and,  finding  Himself  alone  with  the  woman,  said, 
"Hath  no  man  condemned  thee?  Neither  do  I  con- 
demn thee;  go  and  sin  no  more." 

It  remains  to  be  said  that  those  who  would  follow 
Christ  in  the  discharge  of  this  duty,  must  have  in  mind 
the  ultimate  Law  of  Requital;  as  He  said,  "  Judge  not 
that  ye  be  not  judged;  for  with  what  judgment  ye 
judge,  ye  shall  be  judged;  and  with  what  measure  ye 
mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again." 

In  other  words,  the  censorious  critic  will  have  to 
change  places  with  his  victim  one  day.    It  is  with  this 


THE    DUTY   OF    FAULT-FINDING.  199 

fact  in  mind  that  we  pray,  "Forgive  us  our  trespasses 
as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against  us." 

Here  is  no  reference  to  the  lex  talionis.  God  does  not 
judge  in  the  spirit  of  vengeance;  but,  in  the  jiecessity 
of  the  case,  whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also 
reap.  The  Law  of  Requital  works  automatically. 
Haman  is  always  hanged  on  his  own  gallows-tree.  "A 
man  is  his  own  dungeon;"  he  treasures  up  wrath 
against  the  day  of  wrath;  he  determines  for  himself 
what  sentence  the  Law  shall  pass  upon  him.  If  we 
want  mercy  in  the  Great  Day,  we  must  needs  grant 
mercy  here  and  now. 

Wherefore,  let  the  mind  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus 
be  also  in  us.  He  spared  neither  friend  nor  foe;  but 
His  wounds  were  always  the  wounds  of  a  friend.  The 
severest  woes  that  ever  fell  from  His  lips  were  followed 
by  the  kindest  of  invitations :  '*  Come  unto  me  all  ye 
that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 
The  tenderest  rebuke  that  ever  was  administered  was 
from  the  Cross: 

I  saw  One  hanging  on  a  tree. 

In  agony  and  blood, 
Who  fixed  His  languid  eyes  on  me 

As  near  His  cross  I  stood. 

Sure,  never  till  my  latest  breath. 

Can  I  forget  that  look; 
It  seemed  to  charge  me  with  His  death. 

Though  not  a  word  He  spoke. 


200  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A    CI  RISTIAN. 

Alas!    I  knew  not  what  I  did, 

But  now  my  tears  are  vain; 
Where  shall  my  trembling  soul  be  hid, 

For  I  the  Lord  have  slain! 

A  second  look  He  gave,  that  said, 

"I  freely  all  forgive: 
"This  blood  is  for  thy  ransom  paid; 

"I  die  that  thou  may'st  Hve." 

Thus  while  His  death  my  sin  displays 

In  all  its  blackest  hue, 
Such  is  the  mystery  of  grace, 

It  seals  my  pardon,  too! 

He  "knew  what  was  in  man"  and  "covered"  his 
faults  by  expiating  them.  He  was  aware  of  the  im- 
perfections of  those  to  whom  He  had  assumed  the  rela- 
tion of  an  Elder  Brother;  and,  while  He  exposed  them. 
He  bare  them  also  in  His  own  body  on  the  tree.  He  led 
His  friends  through  the  rough  places  of  Via  Dolorosa, 
because  there  was  no  other  way  to  heaven's  gate.  He 
laid  bare,  as  with  a  scalpel,  the  secret  sins  of  men  that 
He  might  heal  them.  It  is  written  of  Him  that  knowing 
His  disciples,  their  faults  and  short-comings.  He  never- 
theless "loved  them  to  the  end."  In  this  we  find  the 
key-note  of  a  Christian  life:  "God  commendeth  His 
love  toward  us  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ 
died  for  us." 


THE  GRACE  OF  FORGIVENESS. 

"seventy  times  seven." 

"Then  came  Peter  to  Him  and  said,  Lord,  how  oft  shall  my  brother  sin 
against  me,  and  I  forgive  him?"     Matthew  18:  21. 

All  the  world  loves  Peter;  brave,  impulsive,  blun- 
dering Peter;  the  apostle  of  the  great  heart,  open  hand, 
hot  temper  and  high  ambition.-  But  there  were  times 
when  Peter  showed  himself  in  most  unlovely  ways. 
In  some  respects  he  was  a  very  little  man. 

It  was  so  here.  He  had  been  greatly  stirred  up  by 
some  things  that  Jesus  had  been  saying  about  the 
proper  way  of  dealing  with  unruly  church  members. 
In  the  Code  of  Discipline,  as  laid  down  by  the  Master, 
there  were  four  steps.  The  first  was,  "If  thy  brother 
trespass  against  thee,  go  tell  him  his  fault  between  thee 
and  him  alone."  If  that  failed,  then,  "Take  with  thee 
one  or  two  witnesses  and  seek  to  arbitrate  the  dif- 
ficulty." In  case  the  offender  were  still  obdurate, 
"Tell  it  unto  the  church,"  that  he  may  be  formally 
cited  for  trial.  And  should  this  also  prove  unavailing, 
"  Let  him  be  unto  thee  as  an  heathen  man  and  a  publi- 
can"; that  is.  Withdraw  your  fellowship  from  him. 

Now,  Peter  had  a  personal  interest  in  this  matter, 
owing  to  certain  grudges  of  his  own.  A  self-willed 
self-confident,  self-opinionated  man  is  sure  to  provoke 

(201) 


202  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

animosities,  and  equally  sure  to  resent  criticism  as  a 
personal  affront.  It  was,  doubtless,  this  cherished 
sense  of  wrong  which  moved  Peter  to  inquire,  "  Lord, 
how  oft  shall  my  brother  sin  against  me  and  I  forgive 
him  ?  Till  seven  times  ?  "  The  teaching  of  the  Rabbin- 
ical writings  was,  "  If  thy  brother  offend  once  and  ask 
pardon,  forgive  him;  if  twice,  forgive  him;  if  thrice, 
forgive  him;  and  that  ends  it."  We  may  assume, 
therefore,  that  Peter,  in  suggesting  seven  times,  sup- 
posed himself  to  be  taking  a  most  magnanimous  view 
of  the  matter.  But  Jesus  said,  "  Not  until  seven  times, 
but  until  seventy  times  seven";  by  which  He  meant 
that  our  spirit  of  forgiveness  must  know  no  limit  at 
all. 

And  this  He  enforced  by  one  of  His  great  parables. 
The  scene  is  laid  in  an  Oriental  court.  A  certain  king, 
calling  his  satraps  to  a  reckoning,  jSnds  that  one  of 
them  is  a  defaulter  in  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  talents; 
that  is,  about  ten  millions  of  our  money.  The  man 
has  no  excuse  to  offer  and  he  has  nothing  wherewith 
to  pay.  The  decision  of  the  king  is  that  he  shall  be 
sold  with  his  wife  and  children  into  slavery,  a  pro- 
cedure which  was  in  strict  accordance  with  the  Roman 
law.  He  thereupon  fell  down  and  besought  him, 
"Lord,  have  patience  with  me  and  I  will  pay  thee  all." 
And  his  lord  did  better  than  he  asked;  he  forgave 
him   all. 

Then  comes  the  sequel,  on  which  the  emphasis 
rests.     The  same  servant  went  out  and  found  one  of 


THE   GRACE   OF   FORGIVENESS.  203 

his  fellow  servants  who  owed  him  the  paltry  sum  of  a 
hundred  pence,  equivalent  to  about  seventeen  dollars 
in  our  money;  and  he  took  him  by  the  throat,  saying, 
"Pay  me  what  thou  owest!"  His  poor  debtor  be- 
sought him,  in  the  very  words  which  the  other  had 
previously  used,  "Have  patience  with  me  and  I  will 
pay  thee  all!"  And  he  would  not,  but  cast  him  into 
prison  until  he  should  pay  the  debt.  Now  when  this 
came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  king  he  was  indignant, 
saying,  "O  thou  wicked  servant!  I  forgave  thee  all, 
because  thou  desiredst  it;  shouldst  not  thou  also  have 
had  compassion  on  thy  fellow-servant,  even  as  I  had 
pity  on  thee?"  And  he  delivered  him  over  to  the 
officers   of   the   law. 

Then  the  lesson:  "*So  likewise  shall  my  heavenly 
Father  do  unto  you,  if  ye  forgive  not  every  one  his 
brother  from  your  hearts.''  The  same  truth  is  repeated 
once  and  again  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  on  other  occas- 
ions ;  as  where  He  says,  "  Judge  not  that  ye  be  not 
judged;  for  with  what  judgment  ye  judge,  ye  shall 
be  judged;  and  with  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall 
be  measured  to  you  again."  Also,  in  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  "Forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we  forgive  our 
debtors."  And,  in  general  terms,  in  the  Golden  Rule, 
"Do  as  ye  would  be  done  by." 

In  the  contrast  presented  in  the  parable  we  have  an 
emphatic  presentation  of  the  Doctrine  of  Grace,  or 
mercy    to    the    undeserving. 

On  the  one  hand,  we  have  in  bold  relief  the  Grace 


204  THE    EVOLUTION    OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

of  Gody  as  illustrated  in  the  king's  magnanimous  treat- 
ment of  his  servant. 

This  Grace  is  manifest  in  the  atonement  of  Christ, 
who  said  of  Himself,  "  The  Son  of  man  is  come  not  to  be 
ministered  unto,  but  to  minister  and  to  give  His  life  a 
ransom  for  many.'* 

Sin  is  a  debt  incurred  to  the  Law;  and  the  Law  is  a 
hard  creditor.  It  records  in  a  great  ledger,  called  "  the 
Handwriting  of  Ordinances,"  all  our  transgressions, 
item  by  item.  The  sinner  who  is  thus  indebted  to  the 
Law  is  a  defaulter,  in  that  every  item  represents  a  wil- 
ful and  inexcusable  violation  of  known  duty.  And  the 
sum  total  of  his  indebtedness  shows  him  to  be  a  hope- 
less bankrupt;  he  owes  "ten  thousand  talents."  The 
satrap  was  in  default  ten  millions  of  dollars,  with  abso- 
lutely no  assets ;  yet  he  had  the  effrontery  to  say,  "  Have 
patience  with  me  and  I  will  pay  thee  all!"  The  reve- 
nues of  a  province  would  have  been  but  a  bagatelle  in 
meeting  such  a  debt.  The  sins  of  the  sinner  are  as  the 
sands  of  the  seashore  for  multitude;  and  what  can  he 
offer  as  an  offset  ?  His  penitence  ?  Nay,  there  is  no 
expiatory  virtue  in  tears.  His  resolution  to  meet  the 
obligation  ?  It  is  a  true  saying.  Hell  is  paved  with 
such  resolutions.  There  is  absolutely  no  hope.  The 
man  passes  into  the  debtor's  jail  and  the  door  clangs 
behind  him. 

But  as  sin  is  debt,  so  pardon  is  remission.  The  Hand- 
writing of  Ordinances  is  blotted  out.  This  is  by 
reason  of  the  " ransom "  which  Jesus  paid;  as  it  is  writ- 


THE   GRACE   OF   FORGIVENESS.  £05 

ten,  "  He  nailed  to  His  cross  the  Handwriting  of  Ordi- 
nances which  was  against  us,  taking  it  out  of  the  way." 
Thus  Mercy  and  Justice  are  reconciled  in  the  pardon 
of  sin. 

The  grace  thus  manifested  to  sinners  is  absolutely 
free.  Grace  and  gratis  are  cognate  terms.  Now  and 
then  we  hear  of  a  creditor  giving  a  receipt  on  this 
wise:  "In  consideration  of  the  sum  of  one  dollar, 
thus  and  so";  but  not  even  such  nominal  remuneration 
as  this  is  exacted  from  the  sinner  who  has  accepted  the 
grace  of  God. 

Long  as  I  live  I'll  still  be  crying, 
Mercy's  free,  mercy's  free! 

And  this  grace  is  extended  to  all;  as  it  is  written, 
"Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters; 
and  he  that  hath  no  money,  let  him  come  and  drink"; 
and  again,  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out."  In  no  wise?  Not  if  he  be  a  thief  or  a 
murderer?  Nay,  if  only  he  "come  unto  me."  Heaven 
is  full  of  such  flagrant  sinners  saved  by  grace.  Christ 
is  able,  and  as  willing  as  He  is  able,  to  save  "  unto  the 
uttermost"  all  who  thus  come  unto  Him. 

And  the  gracious  pardon  is  complete;  that  is,  it 
covers  the  whole  record  of  the  misspent  life.  The  sins 
of  the  sinner  are  blotted  out,  remitted,  sunk  into  the 
depths  of  an  unfathomable  sea,  cast  behind  God's  back, 
so  that  He  remembers  them  no  more  against  him. 

Is  there  no  condition  affixed  to  this  proffer  of  grace  ? 


S06  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

One  only,  the  same  condition  which  is  aflSxed  to 
every  gift;  to  wit,  that  it  shall  be  accepted.  Faith 
is  the  hand  stretched  forth  to  receive  it.  "  He  that  be- 
lieveth  shall  be  saved,"  that  is,  his  debts  are  liquidated; 
"and  he  that  believeth  not"  is  still  indebted  to  the  law; 
therefore  "the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him." 

God  is  a  great  forgiver!  "There's  a  wideness  in 
His  mercy  like  the  wideness  of  the  sea." 

But  now  we  turn  to  the  reverse  of  the  picture.  We 
have  contemplated  the  grace  of  God ;  it  remains  to  con- 
sider the  Grace  of  Man  as  illustrated  in  the  attitude 
of  the  satrap  toward  his  fellow  servant. 

Observe  the  contrast,  for  here  the  emphasis  lies. 
The  only  possible  return  that  we  can  make  for  the 
divine  goodness  is  to  reflect  it,  as  far  as  possible,  in  our 
conduct  toward  our  fellow  men. 

We  have  abundant  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of 
Grace,  since  we  have  all  been  wronged.  "Man's  in- 
humanity to  man  makes  countless  thousands  mourn." 
How  could  it  be  otherwise,  human  nature  being  what 
it  is.^  But  the  servant  is  not  greater  than  his  Lord. 
In  all  the  universe  there  is  no  man  who  has  suffered 
such  injustice  as  Christ.  What  "contradiction  of  sin- 
ners" He  endured!  He  was  misunderstood,  forsaken, 
scourged,  rejected,  spit  upon,  put  to  an  ignominious 
death.  How  small  our  wrongs  appear  in  the  light 
of  His! 

Do  we  resent  them.?  Do  we  propose  to  exact  pay- 
ment of  the  debts  which  are  owed  us?    Do  we  take 


THE   GRACE   OF   FORGIVENESS.  207 

our  adversary  by  the  throat?  Alas,  how  persistently 
we  cherish  the  memory  of  injustice  and  unkindness. 
Old  grudges  rankle  within  us.  We  have  much  to  say 
about  domestic  feuds  in  the  South,  and  about  the  Mafia 
that  sends  its  agents  across  the  ocean  with  vengeance 
in  their  hearts;  but  in  a  smaller,  meaner  and  more 
cowardly  way  we  often  keep  a  memorandum  of  gossip 
and  misrepresentation  in  the  hope  of  "evening  up" 
some  day.  If  a  misfortune  befall  our  debtor,  are  we 
sorry?  Back  in  the  dark  places  of  our  heart  do  we 
not  somehow  cherish  the  thought  that,  however  he  may 
defraud  us  here,  a  just  recompense  awaits  him  in  the 
Great  Day?  Or  if  we  consent  to  forgive,  how  many 
questions  like  Peter's  arise,  "How  oft  shall  I  forgive 
him  ?  "  or,  "  Suppose  he  is  not  sorry  ?  "  or,  "  Who  shall 
take  the  initiative  ?  "  Thus  we  sweep  the  room  and  leave 
the  dust  behind  the  door.  O  httle  people  that  we  are! 
Far,  far,  indeed,  is  our  spirit  from  the  mind  of  God. 

What  is  the  right  attitude,  then?  Grace.  Pardon 
to  the  undeserving.  God's  Grace  in  our  hearts  pour- 
ing itself  out  without  stint.  Love  to  the  uttermost. 
Charity  not  to  God's  poor  only,  but  to  the  devil's  poor. 
Forgetfulness  of  grudges;  "let  bygones  be  bygones;" 
"let  the  dead  bury  their  dead."  Why?  Because  "to 
err  is  human,  to  forgive  divine."  The  right  spirit  was 
exhibited  by  Sir  Thomas  More  when,  on  being  sen- 
tenced to  death,  he  said  to  his  unjust  judge,  "Sir,  I 
am  wronged;  but  I  cherish  no  enmity  against  thee. 
As  Paul  held  the  clothes  of  those  who  stoned  Stephen 


208  THE    EVOLUTION   OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

and  afterwards  met  him  in  heaven,  so  do  I  entertain 
the  hope  that  by  the  mercy  of  Christ  we  may  meet  in 
the   kingdom   of   God." 

Now  this  is  the  very  heart  of  the  Gospel  of  Reconcil- 
iation. 

God  by  his  Grace  comes  down  to  meet  us,  and  we 
by  the  exercise  of  a  similar  Grace  go  out  to  meet  all 
about  us.  This  is  "the  truce  of  God,"  of  which  the 
angels  sang,  "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  peace  on 
earth  and  good  will  toward  men."  Christ  came  to 
bring  peace  of  a  three-fold  sort;  peace  with  God,  peace 
with  ourselves  and  peace  with  our  fellow  men.  And 
in  this  interchange  of  Grace  betwixt  heaven  and 
earth  lies  the  hope  of  that  ultimate  Utopia  in  which 
"Man  to  man,  the  worid  o'er,  shall  brothers  be." 

But  how  shall  we  attain  unto  it.? 

Firsty  by  getting  into  vital  communion  with  Christ; 
that  is,  by  accepting  Him  as  the  personal  manifestation 
of   the   Grace   of   God. 

Second,  by  contemplating  the  divine  Grace,  as  ex- 
hibited on  Calvary,  until  "the  eye  affecteth  the  heart." 

If  the  debtor  in  the  parable  had  not  forgotten  what 
the  king  had  done  for  him,  he  never  would  have  dealt 
so  hardly  with  his  fellow  servant.  If  he  had  remem- 
bered the  ten  millions  of  dollars,  he  would  not  have 
been  so  particular  about  the  seventeen  dollars.  So 
then,  let  us  take  our  place  on  Calvary  and,  looking 
toward  the  cross,  get  some  conception  of  what  God 


THE   GRACE   OF   FORGIVENESS.  209 

has  done  in  our  behalf.     An  Oriental  poet  puts  it  in 
this   wise: 

Once  staggering  blind  with  folly  on  the  brink  of  hell, 
Above  the  everiasting  fire-flood's  frightful  roar, 
God  threw  His  heart  before  my  feet;  and,  stumbling  o'er 
That  obstacle  divine,  I  into  heaven  fell! 

Third,  we  shall  assist  ourselves  into  this  attitude  of 
Grace  by  forming  a  just  conception  of  the  Canon  of 
Judgment  which  is  to  obtain  on  the  Great  Day;  "For 
with  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to 
you  again." 

I  have  read  somewhere  of  an  old-time  baron  who,  on 
hearing  that  an  enemy,  who  had  grievously  wronged 
him,  was  about  to  pass  his  castle,  put  his  retainers 
in  martial  array  and  said  to  his  chaplain,  "Ere  we  go 
forth  to  our  revenge,  lead  us  in  a  prayer  for  victory." 
The  chaplain  said,  "Let  us  go  apart,  thou  and  I,  and 
say  the  Lord's  prayer."  They  repeated  it  together  until 
they  came  to  the  petition,  "Forgive  us  our  trespasses 
as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against  us,"  where 
the  baron  dropped  out.  "My  lord,"  asked  the  chap- 
lain, "why  art  thou  silent.^"  "I  cannot  say  this." 
"Then  arise  and  go  forth  to  meet  thine  enemy;  but  so 
will  God  meet  thee  on  the  Great  Day." 

Is  this  hard  doctrine.^  It  is  the  teaching  of  Christ; 
and  as  followers  of  Christ  we  should  understand  it; 
since  we  profess  to  follow  in  His  steps.  He  preached 
the  doctrine  of  forgiveness,  and  He  exemplified  it.  Was 
ever  greater  magnanimity  than  in  His  last  prayer  on 


210  THE    EVOLUTION    OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

the  cross,  "  Father,  forgive  them  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do  "  ?  Let  the  mind  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus 
be  also  in  us.  If  we  are  smitten,  let  us  turn  the  other 
cheek  rather  than  resent  it.  If  we  are  wronged,  let  us 
not  avenge  it.  A  philosophy  like  this  may  entail  a 
measure  of  suffering;  but  we  shall  enter  into  sympathy 
with    our   Lord   in   pursuing   it. 

"What  can  Jesus  Christ  do  for  you  now?"  said  a 
master  who  had  bound  his  slave  to  the  whipping-post. 
"He  can  teach  me  how  to  forgive  you,  Massa,"  was  the 
answer.  Aye,  this  our  Lord  can  do:  and  in  so  doing 
he  will  make  us  "partakers  of  the  di\dne  nature."  In 
Jesus  we  behold  the  vital  union  of  God  with  humanity; 
here  is  man  at  his  best,  in  touch  with  God.  Emerson 
says,  "  His  heart  was  as  large  as  the  universe,  but  there 
was  no  room  in  it  for  the  memory  of  a  wrong."  Our 
imitation  of  Christ  is  the  measure  of  our  approach  to 
the  full  stature  of  manhood.  And  as  Christians  we  are 
bound  to  imitate  Him  in  all  things.  At  whatever  cost 
we  must  be  Christlike,  for  a  true  Christian  speaks  on 
this  wise :  "  I  am  crucified  with  Christ ;  nevertheless  I 
live;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me;  and  the  life 
which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the 
Son  of  God,  who  loved  me  and  gave  Himself  for  me." 


THE  SECRET  OF  POWER. 

THE  INDWELLING  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 

"For  this  cause  I  bow  my  knees  unto  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
of  whom  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named,  that  He  would 
grant  you,  according  to  the  riches  of  His  glory,  to  be  strengthened  with 
might  by  His  Spirit  in  the  inner  man;  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts 
by  faith;  that  ye  being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love,  may  be  able  to  com- 
prehend with  all  saints  what  is  the  breadth,  andlength,  and  depth,  and 
height:  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge,  that 
ye  might  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God."     Ephesians  3:  14-19. 

Paul  was  a  prisoner  in  the  Praetorian  Camp  at  Rome. 
He  had  been  condemned  to  chains  for  his  persistency  in 
preaching  the  gospel  of  Christ.  His  enemies  thought  to 
destroy  his  influence  in  that  way.  Foolish  thought! 
"Love  laughs  at  locksmiths."  There  is  no  cutting  the 
sinews  of  an  earnest  man. 

Tumble  him  down,  and  he  will  sit 
Exultant  on  his  ruins  yet. 

Lay  him  on  a  sick  bed  and  his  patience  will  preach,  like 
Chrysostom,  with  golden  lips.  Send  him  to  a  desert 
island  and  he  will  plant  aromatic  herbs  there  whose 
fragrance  will  be  wafted  far  and  wide.  Kill  him,  bury 
him,  roll  a  stone  against  his  sepulchre  and,  lo,  his 
disciples  will  walk  the  earth  with  messages  of  irrepressi- 
ble truth. 

So  Paul,  in  chains,  had  to  be  reckoned  with  as  a 
strong  man.    He  could  no  longer  climb  the  Macedonian 

(211) 


212  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

hills  or  cross  the  Syrian  deserts,  but  he  could  dictate 
letters  to  the  churches  and  "  bow  his  knees."  By  reason 
of  his  dim  sight  and  shackled  arm  he  must  needs  do  his 
writing  through  an  amanuensis,  but  he  made  his  own 
sign  manual,  "  I,  Paul,  with  mine  own  hand :  Grace  be 
unto  you ! "  Wonderful  letters  they  were,  which  serve  as 
formularies  of  Christian  doctrine  to  this  day.  And  won- 
derful prayers,  too.  It  is  such  prayers  as  this  that 
make  the  world  go  round.  An  ocean  steamer  holds  its 
way  calmly  and  steadily  toward  its  desired  haven  be- 
cause down  in  the  engine-room  there  are  stokers  at 
work,  grimy  and  stripped  to  the  waist,  feeding  the  fur- 
naces. Who  knows  what  would  happen  to  this  old 
world  of  ours  were  it  not  for  those  earnest  people  who 
in  the  secret  places,  unseen  and  unheard  save  by  the 
Lord  of  the  universe,  are  ever  pleading  for  the  welfare  of 
nations  and  the  children  of  men  ? 

Paul  was  praying  here  for  the  members  of  the  Ephe- 
sian  Church.  He  had  a  singular  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  that  church  because  it  had  been  established  and  built 
up  under  his  ministry.  Its  present  pastor  was  a  young 
friend,  Timothy,  his  spiritual  son,  dear  to  him  as  the 
apple  of  his  eye.  He  knew  the  difficulties  that  beset  the 
congregation  there,  a  feeble  folk  like  the  conies,  worship- 
ing under  the  shadow  of  the  Temple  of  the  great  Diana. 
The  earnestness  of  his  prayer  is  apparent  in  the  fact  that 
his  words  go  tumbling  over  each  other,  like  heralds  in 
undue  haste  to  carry  the  news.  His  heart  is  like  a 
galvanic  battery  which  enables  him,  despite   all   hin- 


THE   SECRET   OF   POWER.  213 

drances,  to  commune,  via  the  Throne  of  Grace,  with 
his  distant  friends. 

The  burden  of  his  prayer  is  Power;  "  that  ye  may  be 
strengthened  with  might  by  His  Spirit  in  the  inner  man." 

All  the  world  loves  a  strong  man.  The  reason  why 
Theodore  Roosevelt  is  perhaps  the  most  popular  of  liv- 
ing rulers  is  because  he  is  recognized  as  the  consistent 
apostle  of  the  "  strenuous  life  ";  a  strong  man  physically, 
intellectually  and  spiritually;  strong  enough  to  lay  a 
kindly  hand  on  each  of  two  belligerent  nations  and 
say,  "Be  at  peace!" 

The  reverence  for  power  is  instinctive.  One  question 
in  "The  Child's  Catechism"  that  always  finds  an 
answer  is,  "Who  is  the  strongest  man.?"  The  youth 
who  commands  respect  at  college  is  the  successful  con- 
testant: prize  essayist,  valedictorian  or  stroke-oar.  In 
business  it  is  the  man  who  pushes  to  the  front.  "  Push  '* 
is  the  word.  An  ounce  of  that  is  worth  a  ton  of  "  pull. " 
In  politics,  in  society,  wherever  you  will,  it  is  power 
that  tells.  If  this  is  true  in  secular  affairs,  how  much 
more  in  the  Church  of  Christ?  A  Christian  has  no 
right  to  be  weak.  Paul  writes  to  Timothy,  "Thou, 
therefore,  be  strong  in  the  grace  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  "; 
and  to  the  members  of  his  church,"  Finally,  my  brethren, 
be  strong  in  the  Lord  and  in  the  power  of  His  might." 
To  be  strong  is  a  duty;  therefore,  to  be  weak  is  a  sin. 

The  strength  here  prayed  for  is  spiritual  strength ;  or 
as  Paul  phrases  it,  "  strength  in  the  inner  man/*  In  this 
expression  he  betrays  his  idea  of  dual  personality.    He 


214  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

conceives  of  himself  as  a  complex  being,  in  whom  two 
persons  are  constantly  at  strife;  "  the  old  man,"  Saul  of 
Tarsus,  and  "the  new  man,"  Paul  the  servant  of  Jesus 
Christ;  the  carnal  man  and  the  spiritual  man;  the  out- 
ward man  and  the  inward  man.  It  is  this  inner  or 
spiritual  man  who,  getting  the  better  of  his  antagonist, 
grows  more  and  more  in  power  and  lives  forever. 
"Though  our  outward  man  perish,"  he  says,  in  recog- 
nition of  his  increasing  ills  and  infirmities,  "yet  the  in- 
ward man  is  renewed  day  by  day." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Bismarck,  smitten  with 
paralysis  in  his  later  years,  went  about  with  faltering 
steps,  his  right  arm  dangling  at  his  side:  but  let  one 
whisper  to  him,  "Sedan!"  or  "Alsace-Lorraine!"  and 
see  his  form  straighten  and  his  eyes  flash.  His  age  fell 
from  him  then  like  a  garment.  The  eye  of  "  the  inner 
man"  was  still  bright  and  his  natural  force  unabated. 
And  this  is  the  divine,  the  immortal  man. 

The  day  came  when  Paul  was  led  out  along  the  road 
toward  Ostia  to  his  execution.  There  were  priests  and 
beggars  and  Arabs,  merchants  and  sailors  and  camel- 
drivers  w^ho  turned  to  look.  What  they  saw  was  an 
armed  guard  with  a  Jewish  prisoner  in  chains ;  a  man  of 
"mean  presence"  outwardly,  but  destined  to  walk 
through  history  like  a  Titan.  The  place  was  reached; 
there  was  the  flash  of  a  heavy  sword;  a  head  fell  from 
the  block.  "There's  an  end  of  this  zealot,"  said  the 
executioner  to  his  men.  Little  they  knew!  The  real 
Paul  could  not  be  slain.    He  was  destined  to  be  heard 


THE   SECRET    OF   POWER.  215 

from.  The  "  inner  man  "  walks  up  and  down  in  Church 
councils  to-day,  a  participant  in  all  great  theological 
controversies,  and  will  until  the  end  of  time.  The  death 
of  such  a  man  is  but  the  widening  of  his  parish. 

Out  of  sight  sinks  the  stone 
In  the  deep  sea  of  time,  but  the  circles  sweep  on! 

And  Paul  points  out  the  means  of  this  strengthening: 
"That  ye  might  be  strengthened  with  might  hy  His 
Spirit  in  the  inner  man."  It  is  by  the  influence  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  that  men  grow  in  power.  Holiness  is  power. 
The  Holy  Ghost  is  so  called  because  it  is  His  official 
function  to  make  men  holy.  He  is  the  squire  of  Chris- 
tians, who  equips  the  "good  soldier  of  Christ"  for 
service.  It  is  He  who  girds  his  loins  with  truth,  buckles 
on  his  breastplate  of  righteousness,  binds  on  his  feet  the 
sandals  of  the  preparation  of  the  gospel,  puts  the  shield 
of  faith  in  his  left  hand  and  in  his  right  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit  which  is  the  Word  of  God. 

No  man  ever  gathered  about  him  a  naturally  weaker 
or  more  inefficient  body  of  helpers  than  did  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  It  was  a  company  of  fishermen  and  other 
toilers,  uneducated  in  the  schools,  without  patronage, 
weaklings  in  the  face  of  duty  and  cowards  in  the  front  of 
danger;  who,  at  the  critical  moment,  "all  forsook  Him 
and  fled."  But  after  His  resurrection  He  met  them  on 
Mount  Ohvet  and  gave  them  the  great  promise:  "Ye 
shall  receive  power  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come 
upon  you;  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me,  both  in 


216  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. "  Now  mark  the  stupen- 
dous change  which  was  wrought  upon  those  men  by  the 
Pentecostal  baptism  of  fire  and  power.  They  were 
scattered  abroad  and  went  everywhere  preaching  the 
gospel.  They  crossed  deserts  and  climbed  mountains 
as  witnesses  of  Christ.  They  faced  the  gleaming  sword, 
the  roaring  lion  and  the  blazing  fagot.  These  fisher- 
men, cowards  and  weaklings,  were  transformed  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  into  the  stuff  that  heroes  and 
martyrs  are  made  of. 

Any  Christian  may  receive  power  in  the  same  way. 
For  "if  earthly  parents  know  how  to  give  good  things 
to  their  children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father 
which  is  in  Heaven,  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask 
Him."  \Miy  then  art  thou  lean,  being  the  king's  son  ? 
Why  should  one  ever  sing,  "  Dear  Lord  and  shall  we  ever 
live  at  this  poor  dying  rate  ?  '* 

But  is  it  worth  while  to  be  thus  strengthened  by 
God's  Spirit  in  the  inner  man  ?  What  is  the  purchase  of 
power?  Are  the  results  such  as  will  warrant  us  in 
earnestly  striving  for  it.^  At  this  point  the  Apostle 
speaks  clearly ;  he  names  the  three  results  which  follow 
the  strengthening  of  the  inner  man. 

First,  ''that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by 
faithr 

This  is  distinctly  a  Christian  truth.  Who  ever  heard 
of  the  indwelling  of  Buddha  or  of  Mohammed  ?  Our 
Lord  makes  much  of  it;  as  in  the  Parable  of  the  Vine 


THE   SECRET   OF   POWER.  217 

and  its  Branches:  "He  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in 
him,  the  same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit;  for  without 
me  ye  can  do  nothing."  So  also  in  His  sacerdotal  prayer 
for  His  disciples :  "  I  in  them  and  Thou  in  me,  that  they 
may  be  made  perfect  in  one;  that  the  love  wherewith 
Thou  hast  loved  me  may  be  in  them  and  I  in  them." 

O,  that  we  might  be  led  into  this  mystery  of  the  in- 
dwelling of  Christ!  There  are  some  who  have  a  mere 
speaking  acquaintance  with  Him ;  they  know  Him  when 
they  see  Him ;  they  salute  Him  and  pass  on.  There  are 
others  who  have  a  visiting  acquaintance  with  Him ;  that 
is,  they  meet  Him  at  stated  times,  in  the  communion  of 
the  closet  at  evening  and  again  at  break  of  day.  But 
there  are  others  who  have  an  abiding  acquaintance  with 
Him;  as  He  said,  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway."  Their 
lives  are  "hid  with  Christ  in  God." 

The  clew  to  this  mystery  is  faith;  as  Paul  intimates, 
"That  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith.'"  Our 
Lord  says,  "  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock ;  if 
any  man  hear  my  voice  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come 
in  to  him  and  will  sup  with  him  and  he  with  me."  Alas ! 
that  He  should  stand  without,  pleading  to  come  in! 
Faith  is  the  hand  outstretched  to  draw  the  bolt,  to  lift 
the  latch,  to  open  the  door,  to  let  Christ  in.  And  thus 
to  welcome  Christ  is  to  make  certain  our  growth  in 
spiritual  life.  To  appropriate  Him  in  this  manner  is 
to  partake  of  His  omnipotence.  To  believe  is  to  be 
strong.    "According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you." 

Second,  "  that  ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love. 


218  THE   EVOLUTION    OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

Tnay  he  able  to  comprehend  with  all  saints  wJmt  is 
the  breadthy  and  lengthy  and  depth,  and  height;  and  to 
know  the  love  oj  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge." 

By  the  "  love  of  Christ"  in  this  connection  we  are  to 
understand  not  our  love  toward  Him,  but  His  love 
toward  us.  And  just  here  is  our  ground  of  assurance. 
Had  Peter  understood  this,  he  would  not  have  answered 
Jesus  as  he  did  in  that  historic  interview  by  the  lake 
shore.  Thrice  the  Lord  asked,  "Lovest  thou  me?" 
and  thrice  Peter  answered,  (but  always,  I  think,  with  an 
increasing  waver  of  uncertainty  in  his  voice.)  "Yea, 
Lord,  Thou  knowest  that  I  love  Thee."  In  view  of  his 
frequent  faults  and  backslidings  and  of  his  three-fold 
denial,  he  well  might  entertain  a  doubt  concerning  him- 
self. But  suppose  he  had  answered,  "Lord,  Thou 
knowest  that  my  oft-repeated  weakness  and  disloyalty 
prevent  my  being  quite  certain  of  my  love  toward  Thee; 
but  this  I  do  know,  that  Thou  lovest  me ! "  Here  is  our 
coign  of  vantage.  Here  is  where  we  take  hold  of  our 
Lord's  strength.  For,  after  all  it  is  not  our  love  toward 
Him  but  His  love  toward  us  that  saves  us. 

O,  this  boundless  love  of  Christ !  The  Father's  love  is 
set  forth  in  John  3 :16,  "  God  so  loved  the  worid  that  He 
gave  His  only -begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  Him  should  not  perish  but  have  eternal  life";  but  the 
Son's:  love  is  announced  in  another  "so"  in  Galatians 
2 :  20,  "  Christ  loved  me  and  gave  Himself  for  me. "  The 
Father's  giving  of  His  Son  was  indeed  a  manifestation  of 
a  love  unspeakable;  but  equally  so  was  that  of  the  Son 


THE   SECRET    OF   POWER.  2 19 

in  giving  Himself  to  suffering  and  death  that  we  might 
enter  into  life.  It  may  be  that  Paul  was  making,  for  the 
benefit  of  his  Ephesian  friends,  a  comparison  of  this 
divine  love  with  the  dimensions  of  their  great  temple  of 
Diana.  That  was  four  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long, 
two  hundred  feet  wide  and  sixty  feet  in  height.  Any  one 
could  walk  about  that  temple  and  measure  it.  But  the 
love  of  Christ — its  length  and  breadth  and  depth  and 
height — who  could  measure  that.?  Its  length  is  like 
eternity,  its  breadth  is  that  of  the  universe,  its  pro- 
fundity is  unfathomable,  and  its  dome  is  glorious  with 
celestial  light.  O,  the  love  of  Christ  which  "passeth 
knowledge!" 

Yet  the  Apostle  says  this  unknowable  may  be  known. 
We  cannot  exhaust  it,  but  we  may  enter  into  it.  How  ? 
By  being  "  rooted  and  grounded  in  love. "  Love  only  can 
comprehend  love.  A  letter  comes  to  me  from  a  dear 
old-fashioned  friend,  written  in  stilted  phrases  with  a 
cramped  hand.  You  read  it  and  smile ;  there  is  nothing 
there  for  you.  Ah,  but  she  is  not  your  mother!  Give 
me  the  letter,  now ;  how  it  warms  my  heart  and  bedews 
my  eyes!  Love  only  can  comprehend  love.  God's 
goodness  is  Sanskrit  to  all  but  His  children.  If  you 
would  understand,  you  must  yourself  be  rooted  in  it, 
like  a  tree  drawing  its  life  from  a  fountain  beneath  the 
hills;  it  knows  water,  because  it  drinks  water  and  Uves 
by  it. 

Thirdy  "  that  ye  might  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of 
God:' 


220  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

Here  is  the  climax  of  mysteries.  "  In  Hym  ye  ben 
fylled."  What  is  this— the  infilling  of  God?  The 
fulness  of  God  dwelling  in  the  soul  of  a  mortal  man! 

Vse  speak  of  "  the  immanence  of  God,"  and  of  "  prac- 
tising the  presence  of  God";  and,  indeed,  if  we  could 
but  realize  this,  that  God  is  ever  with  us,  nearer  than 
touching  or  seeing,  we  would  all  be  living  different  lives. 
How  "coy  and  tender  to  offend!"  How  eager  to  meet 
the  behest  of  duty!  But  here  is  something  more  than 
the  di\ine  immanence :  "  to  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness 
of  God."  I  do  not  know  what  it  means.  It  seems  to 
suggest  the  utmost  possibilities  of  heaven.  "Eye  hath 
not  seen,  ear  hath  not  heard,  neither  have  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared 
for  them  that  love  Him."  In  that  day  we  shall  know, 
and  we  shall  be  satisfied.  The  divine  peace  and  glory 
will  flood  our  souls,  when  we  are  filled  with  the  fulness 
of  God. 

Meanwhile  it  is  ours  to  long  and  aspire.  If  we  may 
not  realize  at  once  the  full  privileges  of  the  transformed 
life,  we  may  at  least  covet  them  earnestly,  and  so  doing 
we  shall  approach  them  nearer  every  day.  The  secret 
of  attainment  is  desire.  Rare  beatitude !  "  Blessed  are 
they  that  hunger  and  thirst;  for  they  shall  be  filled." 

The  beginning  of  the  fife  that  finds  this  glorious  con- 
summation is  in  the  acceptance  of  Christ.  No  man 
is  making  the  journey  who  has  not  taken  the  first  step. 
The  birth  of  "  the  inner  man  "  is  when  one,  hearing  the 
voice  "I  am  Jesus,"  answers,  as  Saul  of  Tarsus  did, 


THE   SECRET    OF   POWER.  221 

"  Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do  ?  "  All  follows  on 
"the  great  renunciation."  To  one  who  has  thus  sur- 
rendered himself  to  Christ,  life  is  but  the  holding  up  of 
his  heart  like  a  chalice  to  be  filled  at  the  infinite  Foun- 
tain. And  so  we  pass  on  from  grace  to  grace,  from 
glory  to  glory,  until  we  shall  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness 
of  God. 


UNREALIZED  IDEALS. 


DREAM    ON! 

"Now  it  came  to  pass  as  David  sat  in  his  house,  that  David  said  to  Nathan 
the  prophet,  Lo,  I  dwell  in  an  house  of  cedars,  but  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  of 
the  Lord  remaineth  under  curtains.  Then  Nathan  said  unto  David,  Do  all 
that  is  in  thine  heart;  for  God  is  with  thee.  And  it  came  to  pass  the  same 
night,  that  the  word  of  God  came  to  Nathan,  saying.  Go  and  tell  David  my 
servant,  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Thou  shalt  not  build  me  an  house  to  dwell  in." 
I  Chronicles   17:  1-4. 

A  great  purpose  was  in  the  king's  heart.  It  came 
to  him  while  he  sat  in  his  house  meditating  on  the 
goodness  of  God.  "As  he  was  musing,  the  fire  burned." 
He  dreamed  a  dream ;  and  it  took  the  form  of  a  splendid 
temple.  He  called  the  Court  Chaplain  and  laid  the 
matter  before  him;  he  approved  as  a  matter  of  course: 
"  Go  do  all  that  is  in  thine  heart,  for  the  Lord  is  with 
thee."  But  the  Lord  had  still  to  be  reckoned  with; 
on  that  same  night  He  said  to  David,  "Thou  shalt 
not  build  me  an  house  to  dwell  in."  So  man  proposes 
and  God  disposes.  We  dream  temples  for  the  Most 
High;  and  they  prove  to  be  castles  in  the  air. 

The  thought  of  a  temple  was  not  original  with 
David;  it  had  been  in  the  mind  of  Moses  centuries 
before.  In  his  memorable  interview  with  Jehovah  on 
Sinai,  he  saw  it  projected  in  the  skies;  and  when 
built  by  the  Israelites  the  tabernacle  was  "according 
to  the  pattern  shown  in  the  Mount."    The  cedar  posts 

(222) 


UNREALIZED    IDEALS.  223 

and  fine-twined  curtains,  the  sacred  utensils,  the  knobs 
and  fillets  and  almond-blossoms,  were  all  fashioned 
after  the  vision:  and  God's  approval  was  manifest 
when  the  Shekinah,  the  luminous  symbol  of  His  "ex- 
cellent glory,"  came  down  and  hovered  over  it. 

But  the  plan  of  David  was  for  larger  things.  "  See, 
now,  I  dwell  in  an  house  of  cedars,  but  the  ark  of 
the  Lord  remaineth  under  curtains."  The  Tabernacle 
might  answer  for  primitive  times,  but  the  people  had 
outgrown  it.  His  purpose,  however,  was  thwarted,  for 
good  and  sufficient  reasons.  The  fulness  of  time  was 
not  come;  the  Jews  had  not  gained  an  undisputed  oc- 
cupation of  the  land;  the  tabernacle  was  still  a  fitting 
symbol  of  their  unsettled  state  and  the  Lord  would 
dwell  sympathetically  among  them  as  "  a  shifting  trav- 
eler from  tent  to  tent." 

Moreover,  the  hands  of  David,  red-stained  with 
many  wars,  were  not  the  proper  hands  to  rear  a  sanc- 
tuary. True,  his  wars  were  holy  wars;  but  to  every 
man  his  work.  Plato  wisely  said,  "Each  individual 
is  the  result  of  a  separate  thought  or  concept  in  the 
divine  mind";  and  it  follows  that  each  should  be 
content  with  the  task  divinely  assigned  to  him. 

The  time  came  when  Solomon  dreamed  the  dream 
of  David  over  again,  and  brought  it  to  a  splendid  con- 
summation. Yet  his  temple  was  only  a  larger  draught 
or  facsimile  of  the  tabernacle  which  Moses  had  seen  in 
his  vision. 

Nor  was  this  temple  itself  a  complete  or  ultimate 


224  THE   EVOLUTION    OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

fabric.  In  the  process  of  the  years  there  came  another 
Son  of  David  who  said,  "  Destroy  this  temple  and  I 
will  rear  it  again";  and  down  came  the  temple.  Its 
walls  were  so  wholly  reduced  by  the  fortunes  of  war 
that  "not  one  stone  was  left  upon  another."  Yet  that 
destruction  was  only  another  chapter  in  the  realization 
of  the  dream;  for  now  the  Kingdom,  the  true  "House 
Magnificat,"  began  to  rise  "without  the  sound  of 
hammer  or  of  ax";  and  history  is  the  record  of  its 
progress  toward  the  final  consummation  when  "the 
tabernacle  of  God  shall  be  with  men,  and  He  shall 
dwell  with  them,  and  they  be  His  people  and  He  be 
their  God." 

It  thus  appears  that  dreams  and  visions,  great  plans 
and  purposes,  are  not  for  naught.  It  may  please  God 
to  thwart  their  accomplishment  within  the  narrow 
scope  of  our  vision,  but  that  does  not  mean  that  He 
disapproves,  or  that  posterity  will  not  complete  them. 
Did  He  not  say  to  David,  "  Thou  didst  well  that  it  was 
in  thy  heart  to  build  an  house  unto  my  name".?  He 
heard  the  proposal,  admired,  approved,  commended 
— and  arrested  it. 

Yet  David  lost  not  heart  nor  abandoned  aught  of 
his  vision.  He  might  not  rear  the  temple;  but  he 
could  assemble  the  material  for  it.  He  prepared,  ac- 
cordingly, vast  quantities  of  gold  and  silver.  He  stored 
away  the  spoils  of  his  conquered  foes  and  the  reve- 
nues of  his  realm.  He  amassed  a  fund  of  "  a  hundred 
thousand  talents  of  gold  and  a  million  talents  of  silver." 


UNREALIZED    IDEALS.  225 

He  accumulated  "brass  and  iron  without  weight." 
He  engaged  mechanics  and  artificers.  O  mighty 
faith!  He  was  not  destined  to  see  a  single  beam  in 
place  nor  a  single  stone  in  the  wall;  yet  he  believed 
that  his  vision  would  come  true;  and  with  all  patience 
and  confidence  he  did  the  portion  of  the  work  which 
God  permitted  him  to  do. 

If  there  be  somewhat  of  pathos  in  this  narrative, 
it  is  because  life  is  always  a  melodrama.  All  its  ideals 
are  elusive;  yet  all  have  their  use.  Are  we  not  dream- 
ing temples  which  we  build  not.^  Do  not  our  neigh- 
bors assure  us  that  our  enterprises  are  Utopian.^  So 
be  it:  Utopia  is  the  land  that  floweth  with  milk  and 
honey,  promised  to  our  fathers  in  reversion  for  the 
unborn.  xA.re  we  satisfied,  then }  Nay,  God  forbid 
The  hand  of  Thorwaldsen  lost  its  cunning  when  he 
made  a  masterpiece  that  satisfied  him.  If  life  were 
complete  it  would  not  be  worth  living.  We  must  take 
eternity  into  the  account.  Our  ideals  are  not  realized 
here  because  we  need  something  to  do  in  the  incalculable 
aeons  before  us.  Our  rebuffs  are,  therefore,  our  suc- 
cesses; and  the  thwarting  of  our  plans  is  the  token 
of  our  unending  life. 

I  wonder  if  ever  a  song  was  sung 

But  the  singer's  heart  sang  sweeter? 
I  wonder  if  ever  a  hymn  was  rung 

But  the  theme  surpassed  the  meter  ? 
I  wonder  if  ever  a  sculptor  wrought 

Till  the  cold  stone  echoed  his  ardent  thought  ? 


226  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

Or  if  ever  a  painter,  with  light  and  shade. 
The  dream  of  his  innermost  heart  portrayed? 

We  observe  this  in  the  affairs  of  secular  life.  No 
man  liveth  to  himself;  he  must  reckon  with  posterity. 
We  frame  anew  and  in  larger  lines  the  ideals  of  the 
past  and  send  them  on  unfinished  to  the  generations 
that  come  after  us.  Our  great  achievements  are  only 
the  measurable  fulfillment  of  old  dreams  of  long  ago; 
"measurable,"  because  it  remains  for  the  future  to 
realize  them.  We  say  that  the  Suez  Canal  was  com- 
pleted under  the  direction  of  M.  de  Lesseps;  but  it 
was  originally  projected  by  Pharaoh  Necho,  who 
hoped  to  bind  the  Sea  of  the  Rising  with  the  Sea  of 
the  Setting  Sun.  The  Mont  Cenis  tunnel,  one  of  the 
most  notable  achievements  of  modern  times,  was  con- 
ceived about  200  B.  C.  by  Hannibal,  who,  having  led 
his  legions  to  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  deliberated  whether 
it  would  be  better  to  climb  over  or  dig  under  them. 
The  Czar  of  Russia  congratulates  himself  on  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Siberian  Railway;  but  his  pride  should 
be  tempered  with  humility  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
Alexander  the  Great,  on  his  campaigns  of  universal 
conquest,  planned  a  highway  identical  with  it.  Colum- 
bus set  forth  in  search  of  a  western  route  to  the  Indies 
and  was  disappointed;  but  his  hope  is  abundantly  ful- 
filled in  our  trans-continental  railways,  which,  con- 
necting with  Oriental  steamships,  bring  us  into  touch 
with  the  remote  East.  It  is  obvious,  thus,  that  no 
high  purpose  fails,  only  the  future  must  ever  be  reck- 


UNREALIZED   IDEALS.  9,9,1 

oned  with.  The  fathers  sketched  the  temples  we  are 
building,  and  we  in  turn  commit  to  posterity  the  lay- 
ing of  the  topstone.  Our  best-laid  plans  may  "gang 
aglee,"  our  enterprises  may  be  beaten  back  and  our 
cloud-capped  towers  vanish  into  thin  air,  but  the  Valley 
of  Achor  is  ever  our  door  of  hope. 

The  importance  of  this  fact  increases  as  we  rise  to 
the  higher  levels  of  Hfe;  as  in  character-building.  It 
is  the  part  of  every  earnest  man  to  make  the  most  of 
himself,  putting  forth  his  utmost  endeavor  to  reach 
the  full  stature  of  a  man.  The  structural  work  of  life 
is  suggested  in  the  word  "edification,"  which  occurs  so 
frequently  in  Scripture.  Its  literal  meaning  is  "temple 
building."  Growth  in  character  is  but  dreaming  a 
temple  and  proceeding  to  rear  it. 

To  this  end,  as  good  architects,  we  must  begin  by 
making  plans  and  specifications.  And  he  is  the  wisest 
builder  who  resolves  to  build  "according  to  the  pat- 
tern shown  him  in  the  Mount."  Our  ideal  well  in 
mind,  all  the  rest  is  but  filling  out  the  silhouette;  that 
is,  "going  on  unto  perfection."  Our  model  is  Christ, 
the  "  Son  of  Man,"  the  Ideal  Man.  To  hear  His  teach- 
ing and  imitate  His  graces  is  to  grow  in  the  practical 
knowledge  of  truth  and  goodness.  And  here  we 
have  everything  to  encourage  us;  for  Christ  offers 
Himself  not  only  as  our  Ideal  but  as  an  omnipo- 
tent Helper.  He  is  the  Elder  Brother  who,  climbing  the 
steep  places  in  advance,  lends  a  helping  hand  to  us 
who   follow  after,     encouraging    us    with    His    great 


228  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

promise,   *'  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end.*' 

Yet  here  again  we  fail;  that  is,  if  incompleteness 
be  failure;  for  the  best  that  any  can  say,  having  done 
his  best,  is,  "I  am  not  what  I  ought  to  be;  I  am  not 
w^hat  I  mean  to  be;  but  by  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what 
I  am." 

Shall  w^e  be  discouraged,  then?  Nay;  that  w^ere 
surely  to  fail.  Our  partial  success  is  ground  for  im- 
measurable comfort,  in  that  the  boundless  future  is 
before  us.  But  suppose  "death  ends  all".^  Then,  in- 
deed, life  is  not  worth  living.  But  death  ends  nothing. 
It  is  only  the  veil  which  lifts  to  let  us  through,  and 
drops  again  behind  us.    But  wx  live  right  on. 

The  significance  of  death  is  in  the  fact  that  it  form- 
ulates our  plans;  it  crystallizes  our  ideals;  it  deter- 
mines forever  what  a  man  shall  be.  So  it  is  written, 
"He  that  is  unjust,  let  him  be  unjust  still;  he  that  is 
filthy,  let  him  be  filthy  still;  he  that  is  righteous,  let 
him  be  righteous  still;  he  that  is  holy,  let  him  be  holy 
still."  There  is  no  going  back,  now.  The  founda- 
tions of  the  temple  are  laid;  and  the  future  marks  the 
progressive  rearing  of  the  superstructure,  whether 
or  no  God  shall  dwell  in  it. 

But  we  must  go  a  step  further  to  reach  the  high- 
est level  of  life.  For,  of  course  w^e  understand  that 
secular  success  is  not  our  business;  and  we  know 
to  an  equal  certainty  that  self-culture  is  not  our  busi- 
ness, else  life  would  be  but  a  poor,  selfish  and  un- 
satisfying thing.     A  man,  by  virtue  of  his  birthright. 


UNREALIZED    IDEALS.  229 

is  in  vital  relation  with  the  family  and  with  the  Head 
of  the  family  of  which  he  is  a  member;  that  is  to 
say,  his  supreme  purpose  has  to  do  with  God  and  his 
fellow  men. 

A  man  begins  to  live  on  this  highest  level  by  form- 
ing a  definite  thought  as  to  his  "career."  It  is  impos- 
sible to  make  a  journey  until  one  has  taken  the  first 
step.  The  question  is,  What  shall  I  do  with  myself.^ 
What  disposition  shall  I  make  of  my  time,  of  my 
physical,  mental  and  moral  energy,  of  the  talents  which 
have  been  divinely  entrusted  to  me.^  Shall  I  waste 
them  in  riotous  li\'ing?  Shall  I  spend  them  in  the 
gratification  of  sordid  ambition  .^  Shall  I  use  them  for 
the  mere  betterment  of  myself  ?  Or  shall  I  invest  them 
in  the  behalf  of  my  fellow  men  and  the  glory  of  God  ? 
"He  builds  too  low  who  builds  beneath  the  stars." 

But  let  us  assume  that  a  man  has  chosen  the  high- 
est and  best;  he  will  still  fail  to  realize  it.  He  will 
climb  his  last  mountain  like  Moses,  praying,  "Estab- 
lish thou  the  work  of  our  hands  upon  us;  yea,  the 
work  of  our  hands,  establish  thou  it."  But  though 
Moses  was  not  permitted  to  enter  the  Land  of  Prom- 
ise, was  not  his  name  written  in  letters  of  light  on 
all  the  historic  institutions  of  the  people  who  took 
possession  of  it.'^ 

If  life  were  complete  it  would  indeed  be  failure; 
since  there  would  be  nothing  before  us.  Once  on  a 
time  there  lived  a  Man  who  did  His  very  best;  who 
used  every  atom  of  His  time  and  energy  for  God  and 


230  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

His  fellows;  who  never  wasted  an  opportunity  or  fell 
short  of  a  privilege;  who  thought  of  all  hut  Himself 
and  ultimately  gave  Himself  for  others;  who  at  the 
last,  dying  in  unspeakable  agony,  summoned  the  linger- 
ing remnant  of  His  powers  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice, 
"It  is  finished!"  What  was  finished?  Was  His  life 
finished?  O,  no;  for  "He  that  was  dead  liveth  and  is 
alive  for  evermore."  Did  He  mean  that  His  dream  of 
conquest  was  over  ?  No,  not  that ;  for  He  sits  in  heaven 
"expecting  until  His  enemies  he  made  His  foot-stool." 
Did  He  mean  that  the  temple  of  truth  and  righteousness, 
which  He  had  planned,  was  fully  reared  ?  No ;  since 
He  had  only  laid  its  foundations  in  His  blood.  His 
meaning  is  clear  from  the  commission  He  gave  to  His 
disciples:  "Go  ye,  evangeUze;  and  lo,  I  am  with 
you!"  and  again,  "The  works  that  I  have  done,  ye 
shall  do  also;  and  greater  works  than  these  shall  ye 
do."  Nothing  was  ended  but  the  beginning.  He  had 
merely  marked  out  the  campaign  of  the  centuries.  He 
now  committed  to  His  followers  the  realization  of  the 
dream  which  had  brought  Him  from  His  heavenly 
throne;  a  dream  which  will  not  be  rounded  out  until 
the  last  resisting  soul  is  converted  and  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  shall  come  down  among  men. 

The  roll-call  of  heroes  in  the  Eleventh  of  Hebrews 
ends  with  a  startling  anticlimax.  We  read  with  kindling 
eyes  the  record  of  the  mightiest,  how  they  journeyed 
to  strange  countries,  trusted  in  improbable  prophecies, 
esteemed  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than 


UNEEALIZED    IDEALS.  231 

the  wealth  of  royal  exchequers,  compassed  the  walls 
of  hostile  cities  with  preposterous  rams'  horns,  com- 
mitted their  destiny  to  the  strength  of  scarlet  threads, 
subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness,  stopped 
the  mouths  of  lions,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire, 
escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword,  out  of  weakness  were 
made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in  fight,  turned  to  flight  the 
armies  of  the  aliens,  endured  mockings  and  scourgings, 
bonds  and  imprisonment,  wandered  in  deserts  and 
mountains,  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth — and  then 
abruptly  we  come  to  this  strange  denouement:  "And 
these  all  having  obtained  a  good  report  received  not 
the  promise,  God  having  provided  some  better  thing 
for  us,  that  they  without  us  should  not  be  made  perfect  !*' 
Yet  this,  so  far  from  being  an  anticlimax,  is  really  the 
magnificent  climax  of  all  life  and  history:  for  ever  and 
ever  again  life  is  complete  only  as  a  preparation  for 
life  further  on. 

For  what  is  life.^  One  of  the  Cynics  has  defined  it 
as  "  a  struggle  against  death  with  the  certainty  of  being 
conquered."  Nay,  rather,  life  is  an  arc  of  a  great 
circle,  in  which  a  man  takes  up  the  work  of  the  fathers 
where  they  left  it  and  pushes  it  on  until  his  hands  are 
cold  and  God  says,  "Let  go!"  Then  others  follow 
him,  as  Solomon  followed  David,  and  the  world  moves 
on. 

And  what  is  death?  The  beginning  of  life,  on  the 
lines  of  preparation  which  we  have  marked  out  for  it. 
At  death  two   things  occur:  On  the  one  hand  a  man 


232  TUE    EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

commits  to  posterity  his  unifinishcd  dream.  The  only 
failure  in  the  world  is  a  finished  life;  the  life  that 
ends  at  death,  that  has  no  relation  to  the  future,  that 
closes  with  "  Hie  jacet. "  That  is  a  fiasco.  It  is  no  better 
than  the  life  of  the  beast  that  perisheth.  Not  so,  how- 
ever, does  the  breath  of  God  go  out  of  the  nostrils  of  a 
man.  It  was  a  true  thing  that  Sheridan  said  when  dying : 
"  I  am  called  away  to  meet  an  imperative  engagement, 
but  I  will  leave  my  character  behind  me." 

And  the  other  thing  that  happens  is  a  translation 
to  the  higher  sphere  of  growth  and  usefulness.  Our 
present  life  in  this  probationary  sphere  is  but  an  ap- 
prenticeship, in  which  we  are  fitting  ourselves  for  the 
real  business  beyond.  And,  on  this  account  its  im- 
portance grows  more  and  more  as  w^e  contemplate  it. 
"Make  haste,  O  man,  to  five;  for  thou  so  soon  must 
die!"  We  shall  never  pass  this  way  again.  The  foun- 
dations of  our  eternal  life  must  be  laid  now.  Now  or 
never!  Wherefore,  whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to 
do,  do  it. 

And  let  us  be  sure  in  all  our  planning  to  reckon 
with  eternity.  Dream  on!  Build  castles  in  the  air; 
but  put  the  foundations  of  truth  and  righteousness 
beneath  them.  Have  ideals;  the  loftier  the  better. 
Let  men  call  you  visionary,  if  you  will.  Dream  on! 
Dream  on!  The  great  circle  is  ours.  Eternity  is  be- 
fore us. 


FAILURE. 

DRIVEN  BACK  FROM  THE  BORDER. 

"So  we  see  that  they  could  not  enter  in  because  of  unbelief."  Hebrews 
3:19. 

The  reason  why  the  children  of  Israel  are  so  fre- 
quently spoken  of  in  Scripture  as  a  "stiff-necked 
people,"  is  because  they  were  so  slow  to  learn  the  simple 
lesson,  "I  am  the  Lord  thy  God." 

A  great  destiny  was  marked  out  for  them  as  a  chosen 
people.  The  Lord  had  promised  to  make  bare  His 
arm  for  their  deliverance  from  bondage  and  to  lead 
them  into  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  It  was 
only  a  fortnight's  journey  from  Rameses  to  the  foot- 
hills of  Canaan,  yet  they  were  kept  wandering  about  in 
the  wilderness  for  a  period  of  forty  years!  Why? 
"Because  of  unbelief."  They  could  not  enter  in  until 
they  learned  the  lesson,  "I  am  the  Lord  thy  God." 

On  the  third  day  after  their  departure  they  encamped 
at  Pi-hahiroth  by  the  sea.  The  sound  of  horses  hoofs* 
was  heard  afar  off,  and  the  cry  was  raised  that  Pharaoh's 
army  was  pursuing  them.  They  were  caught  in  a  trap ; 
what  should  they  do?  They  gave  themselves  up  to 
despair,  complaining  of  their  folly  in  leaving  Egypt. 
It  seems  not  to  have  occurred  to  them  to  trust  in  God. 
But  He  interposed  in  their  behalf  and  brought  them 

(233) 


234  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

through  the  sea.  In  the  night  they  heard  the  rolling 
back  of  the  waters,  the  neighing  of  horses  and  the 
shrill  cry  of  strangling  men.  At  daybreak  the  shore  was 
lined  with  bodies  of  the  dead :  and  the  song  was  raised, 
"  Who  is  like  unto  our  God,  glorious  in  holiness,  fearful 
in  praises,  doing  wonders!"  Now  surely  they  had 
learned  their  lesson;  they  would  never  more  forget 
that  the  Lord  was  their  God. 

Six  weeks  later  they  pitched  their  tents  under  the 
shadow  of  Sinai.  Never  in  all  the  course  of  history, 
save  at  Golgotha,  have  there  been  such  manifestations 
of  the  divine  presence  and  power  as  when  Moses  was 
in  the  mountain  receiving  the  laws  and  ordinances 
which  were  to  be  the  Constitution  of  the  Theocracy. 
But  they  were  not  suflScient  to  prevent  these  people 
from  lapsing  into  their  besetting  sin.  "Up,  make  us 
gods ! "  they  cry.  The  golden  calf  is  erected  and  they  are 
circling  about  it  in  unholy  orgies.  "These  are  thy 
gods,  O  Israel!"  Their  unbeHef  that  day  cost  them 
three  thousand  lives.  In  all  reason,  this  should  have 
taught  them  that  the  Lord  was  God. 

The  next  summer  they  were  at  Kadesh-Barnea,  on 
the  border  of  the  promised  land.  Off  yonder  were  the 
"sweet  fields,  all  dressed  in  living  green."  They  had 
only  to  march  in  and  take  possession;  but,  alas!  their 
hearts  misgave  them.  Spies  were  sent  to  search  out 
the  land;  they  returned,  saying,  "It  is  a  land  that 
floweth  with  milk  and  honey;  but  its  inhabitants  are 
giants,  and  we  were  but  as  grasshoppers  in  their  sight ! " 


FAILURE.  235 

Then  more  murmuring;  "Oh  that  we  had  remained 
in  Egypt,  with  its  flesh-pots  and  leeks  and  lentils!" 
So  back  they  went  into  the  wilderness,  whipped  on  by 
unbelief,  going  round  and  round  until  they  should 
learn  their  lesson,  that  the  Lord  was  their  God. 

Thirty-eight  years  have  passed;  and  they  are  again 
on  the  border.  All  along  their  weary  pilgrimage  they 
have  been  led  by  the  pillar  of  cloud.  Not  once  has  God 
forsaken  them;  yet,  under  a  momentary  trial,  they 
give  way  again  to  murmuring;  and  the  fiery  serpents 
are  hissing  through  the  camp.  God  interposes  to  save 
them  and  still  they  are  faithless  and  obdurate.  O  per- 
verse and  stiff-necked  people:  Back  into  the  wilder- 
ness they  go  again,  to  con  their  lesson  that  the  Lord  is 
their  God. 

The  forty  years  are  over  at  last.  Moses  climbs  the 
mountain  path  and  sings  his  farewell  song:  "Lord, 
Thou  hast  been  our  dwelling-place  in  all  generations. 
Before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth,  or  ever  Thou 
hadst  formed  the  earth  and  the  world,  even  from  ever- 
lasting to  everlasting  Thou  are  God!"  The  waters 
of  the  Jordan  open  before  them,  and  they  enter  in. 

It  is  a  long  story  and  pathetic.  And  a  great  truth  is 
involved  in  it,  to  wit,  "According  to  thy  faith  be  it  unto 
thee."  We  all  fall  measurably  short  of  the  destiny 
which  is  divinely  appointed  for  us  by  reason  of  unbelief. 

There  are  multitudes  who,  on  this  account,  fail  to 
enter  the  Promised  Land  of  Life. 

The  question  is,  "What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved .^" 


236  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

and  the  answer  is,  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  Is  there  nothing  else  for  me 
to  do  ?  Nothing.  "  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye 
believe  on  Jesus  Christ  whom  He  hath  sent."  This  is 
the  sole  condition  of  life;  but  it  is  imperative  and  ul- 
timate. 

God,  in  making  man  in  His  own  image  and  after  His 
likeness,  must  needs  endow  him  with  a  sovereign  will 
— in  other  words.  He  must  give  him  the  power  to  do 
right  and  wrong,  as  he  should  choose.  And  in  seeking 
to  deliver  him  from  sin  and  restore  him  to  his  lost  in- 
heritance He  must,  of  necessity,  appeal  to  his  sovereign 
will.    He  must  "draw  him  with  the  cords  of  a  man." 

The  way  of  salvation  is  made  perfectly  clear  and 
plain  in  the  atonement  of  the  cross;  but  God  will  not 
compel  any  sinner  to  accept  it.  He  did  not  force  the 
children  of  Israel  to  partake  of  the  manna.  It  lay  upon 
the  ground  plenteous  as  hoar  frost,  free,  absolutely 
free,  and  enough  for  all.  But  a  man  might  walk 
through  the  camp,  with  manna  all  about  his  feet  and 
die  of  starvation,  if  he  would  not  stoop  down  and 
take  it. 

Faith  is  acceptance.  It  is  the  hand  stretched  forth  to 
receive  the  grace  of  God.  Believe  and  live!  The 
promised  land  is  ours  for  the  entering.  The  windows 
of  heaven  are  open  above  us  and  the  songs  of  redeemed 
come  this  way.  He  that  believeth  shall  pass  in.  Alas! 
this  is  the  very  diflficulty.  The  way  is  so  plain!  If 
God  had  required  us  to  stand  like  Saint  Simeon  on  a 


FAILURE.  2S7 

pillar,  beaten  by  the  suns  and  storms  for  many  years, 
we,  in  our  desire  for  everlasting  life,  might  be  willing 
to  earn  it  that  way.  But  only  to  believe;  to  have  life 
for  the  mere  taking;  to  stretch  forth  the  hand  and 
say,  "Lord,  I  will,"  ah,  this  is  so  hard,  because  so 
easy.  Thus  men  are  driven  back  from  the  border  by 
their  unbelief.  O  that  they  might  learn  the  lesson  of 
divine  grace!  Our  God  is  the  God  of  salvation.  The 
cross  is  the  supreme  revelation  of  His  majesty.  Out  of 
the  noon-day  darkness  of  that  mighty  tragedy  comes 
the  voice,  "The  Lord  is  your  God!" 

And  many  of  those  who  have  accepted  Christ  as 
their  Saviour  are  excluded  from  the  Promised  Land  of 
Peace  by  their  unbelief. 

This  is  the  inheritance,  "Peace  I  leave  with  you; 
my  peace  I  give  unto  you ;  let  not  your  heart  be  troubled, 
neither  let  it  be  afraid." 

Why  then  do  we  find  in  our  hymn-books  such  lines  as 
these : 

When  Thou,  my  righteous  Judge,  shalt  come 
To  take  Thy  ransomed  people  home. 

Shall  I  among  them  stand? 
Shall  such  a  worthless  worm  as  I, 
Who  sometimes  am  afraid  to  die, 

Be  found  at  Thy  right  hand  ? 

Can  we  not  take  Him  at  His  word  ?  Suppose  I  ask 
you,  "Are  your  sins  forgiven  ?  Have  you  *a  title  clear 
to  mansions  in  the  skies'?"  Do  you  answer,  "I  hope 
so"?    Why  so?    This  is  the  language  of  unbelief.    If 


238  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

I  were  to  ask,  "Have  you  an  appetite  for  dinner?" 
would  you  answer,  "I  hope  so"? — "Do  you  love  your 
wife  ? "  "  I  hope  so.  " — "  Have  you  paid  your  grocer's 
bill  ?  "  "  I  hope  to."—"  Do  you  own  your  house  ? "  "  I 
hope  so." — Yet  there  is  nothing  surer  in  the  world 
than  that,  when  we  have  accepted  Christ,  we  have  en- 
tered into  the  earnest  of  our  heavenly  possessions. 
Here  is  the  manifesto :  "  There  is,  thereforey  now  no 
condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who 
walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.  For  the 
law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me 
free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death.  For  what  the  law 
could  not  do  in  that  it  was  weak  through  the  flesh,  God, 
sending  His  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and 
for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh. — And  we  know  tJiat 
all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God. — 
What  shall  we  then  say  to  these  things?  If  God  be  for 
us,  who  can  be  against  us?  He  that  spared  not  His 
own  son,  but  delivered  Him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall 
He  not  with  Him  also  freely  give  us  all  things?  Who 
shall  lay  anything  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect?  It  is 
God  that  justifleth.  Who  is  he  that  condemneth?  It 
is  Christ  that  died,  yea  rather,  that  is  risen  again,  who 
is  even  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  who  also  maketh  inter- 
cession for  us.  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love 
of  Christ?  Shall  tribulation,  or  distress,  or  persecu- 
tion, or  famine,  or  nakedness,  or  peril,  or  sword?  As 
it  is  written,  For  thy  sake  we  are  killed  all  the  day  long; 
we  are  accounted  as  sheep  for  the  slaughter.     Nay,  in 


FAILURE.  239 

all  these  things  we  are  more  than  conquerers  through 
Him  that  loved  us.  For  I  am  persuaded  that  neither 
death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers 
nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor 
depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate 
us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord/" 

And  we  are  excluded  from  the  Promised  Land  of 
Character  by  unbelief. 

What  is  character.?  Christlikeness.  How  is  it 
attained.?  By  the  imitation  of  Christ.  He  came  into 
the  world  not  only  to  save  sinners  but  to  show  what 
character  is  and  what  His  people  ought  to  be.  And  to 
the  end  that  we  might  be  able  to  attain  to  character,  He 
has  given  us  His  Holy  Spirit.  The  special  and  particu- 
lar function  of  the  Spirit  is  sanctification,  that  is,  the 
cultivation  of  character.  So  it  is  written,  "The  fruit 
of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentle- 
ness, goodness,  faith."  If  a  man  believe  in  Christ  he 
is  ever  following  in  His  footsteps,  and,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  His  Spirit,  growing  to  be  like  Him.  But 
alas,  how  slowly  and  laboriously  we  creep  when  we 
ought  to  "fly  up  the  shining  way."  How  reluctantly 
we  surrender  our  old  habits  of  sin,  when  we  ought  to 
be  joyously  flinging  them  off  and  hastening  on!  Why 
is  this?  Ah,  we  do  not  half  beHeve  in  the  presence 
and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Too  many  of  us  are 
like  that  group  of  primitive  believers  in  Ephesus  who, 
when  Paul  asked  them,  "Have  ye  received  the  Holy 


240  THE    EVOLUTION    OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

i 

Ghost  since  ye  believed  ?  **  answered,  "  We  have  not 
so  much  as  heard  whether  there  be  any  Holy  Ghost.'* 
Yet  He  is  our  personal  friend,  ever  with  us,  willing 
and  waiting  to  serve  us.  O  for  faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit, 
by  whose  help  we  are  able  to  "lay  aside  every  weight 
and  the  sin  that  doth  so  easily  beset  us  and  run  with 
patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us,  looking  unto 
Jesus!" 

And  we  are  shut  out  from  the  Promised  Land  of 
Power  and  Usefulness  by  unbelief. 

The  command  is,  "Be  strong";  and  we  go  mourn- 
ing, "O  my  leanness!"  Our  duties  and  responsibilities 
affright  us.  We  are  overcome  by  the  heat  and  burden 
of  the  day.    AVhy  ? 

At  the  foot  of  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  the  dis- 
ciples were  put  to  shame  because  they  were  unable  to 
heal  the  demoniac  boy.  The  Lord  came  down  into  the 
midst,  His  face  shining,  and  looking  around  upon  His 
disciples  He  said,  "  O  ye  faithless  ones,  how  long  shall 
I  bear  with  you  ?  "  And  afterwards  when  they  asked, 
"  Why  could  we  not  heal  the  lad  ?  "  He  answered  plainly, 
"  Because  of  your  unbelief. "  And  He  said,  "  If  ye  have 
faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  ye  shall  say  unto  this 
mountain.  Remove  hence  to  yonder  place:  and  it  shall 
remove."  A  grain  of  mustard-seed  is  the  symbol  of 
littleness ;  but  it  has  in  it  the  power  of  life.  The  lifting 
of  a  mountain  is  the  symbol  of  impossibility;  but  all 
things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth.  This  is  not 
hyperbole,  but  simple  truth.    Of  myself  I  can  do  nothing 


FAILURE.  241 

but  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  who  strengtheneth 
me!  For  faith  is  buttressed  by  the  omnipotence  of 
God. 

Once  more,  we  are  excluded  from  the  Promised 
Land  of  Conquest  by  unbelief. 

Here  is  the  weakness  of  the  Church  in  these  days. 
It  is  appalling  to  reflect  that  eighteen  hundred  years 
have  passed  since  Jesus  stood  on  Olivet  and  said  to  His 
disciples,  "All  power  is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and  in 
earth;  go  ye,  therefore,  and  evangelize  and,  lo,  I 
am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 
Eighteen  centuries !  And  there  are  still  twelve  hundred 
millions  of  unevangelized  people  on  earth.  Is  this  be- 
cause the  divine  promise  is  ineffective.'^  Or  because 
the  Church  has  been  inadequate  to  her  appointed  task  ? 
Not  at  all.  It  is  simply  because  the  Church  has  not 
believed  in  her  commission.  The  nineteenth  century 
is  frequently  spoken  of  as  "the  great  missionary  cen- 
tury"; and  this  is  true,  so  far  forth  as  that  the  number 
of  disciples  has  been  more  than  doubled  since  the  mis- 
sionary movement  began  a  hundred  years  ago.  But  O, 
the  land  that  still  remains  to  be  occupied!  The  souls 
that  are  still  unsaved !  The  regions  that  still  lie  in  dark- 
ness and  the  shadow  of  death !  And  alas,  that  so  many 
who  profess  to  believe  in  Christ  are  still  resting  in 
camp,  murmuring  under  the  shadow  of  the  pillar  of 
cloud,  and  refusing  to  go  forward.  The  unbelief  of 
God's  people  is  absolutely  the  only  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  the  present  conquest  of  the  world. 


242  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

We  are  a  Christian  nation.  There  are  thirty  mil- 
lions of  people  in  America  who  are  more  or  less  closely 
allied  with  the  Church.  In  their  hands  are  the  wealth, 
culture  and  influence  of  our  country.  What  are  they 
doing  for  universal  evangelization  ?  Last  year  we 
spent  in  America,  fourteen  hundred  and  fifty  millions 
of  money  for  alcoholic  beverages!  And  how  much  for 
the  conversion  of  the  pagan  world  ?  Possibly  ten  mil- 
lions !  The  consumption  of  beer  was  eighteen  and  one- 
half  gallons  for  every  man,  woman  and  child.  Mean- 
while the  contribution  to  Foreign  Missions  was  about 
twelve  and  one-half  cents  per  capital  And  we  go  on 
singing, 

Shall  we  whose  souls  are  lighted  with  wisdom  from  on  high, 
Shall  we  to  men  benighted  the  lamp  of  life  deny. J* 
Salvation,  O  salvation,  the  joyful  sound  proclaim. 
Till  earth's  remotest  nation  has  learned  Messiah's  name! 

Enter  in.^  Oh,  no;  not  until  we  believe  in  our  great 
commission.  Not  until  we  take  our  Master  at  His  word. 
Not  until  we  learn  the  lesson  that  the  Lord  is  God. 
There  are  those  who  do  appreciate  the  situation  and 
recognize  the  fact  that  they  are  committed  to  the  con- 
quest of  the  world.  But  there  are  multitudes  on  multi- 
tudes who  are  making  a  grim  and  ghastly  farce  of  it. 
Enter  in.?  No,  never  this  way.  We  shall  go  wander- 
ing about  in  the  wilderness  for  centuries,  until  we  un- 
derstand that  when  God  speaks.  He  means  it. 

In  the  spring  of  1807,  a  great  crowd  was  assembled 
on  the  wharf  in  New  York  to  witness  the  trial  trip  of 


FAILURE.  ^43 

Robert  Fulton's  boat,  the  Clermont.  They  called  it 
"Fulton's  Folly."  He  says  that  on  that  day  he  heard 
many  "sarcastic  remarks."  They  were  making  sport 
of  him.  But  presently  clouds  of  steam  and  smoke 
puffed  from  her  smoke  stacks,  the  spray  began  to  fly 
from  her  paddle  wheels  and  the  first  steamboat  of 
history  moved  out  into  the  river.  Then  the  laughter 
ceased;  and  as  the  Clermont  moved  up  the  Hudson, 
her  builder,  standing  on  her  deck,  smiled  as  in  the 
distance  he  heard  the  sound  of  cheering. 

The  secret  of  Fulton's  success  lay  in  a  profound 
belief  in  his  work.  He  knew  that  right  principles  were 
involved  in  the  machinery  of  the  Clermont.  This  is  the 
faith  that  ever  wins.  Our  work  is  the  bringing  of  the 
nations  to  the  knowledge  of  Christ.  O  for  a  larger 
faith  in  the  enterprise  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  outcome 
which  rests  upon  the  veracity  of  the  living  God.  Let 
us  believe  that  the  ships  of  Tarshish  will  come  from 
afar,  the  rams  of  Nebaioth  and  the  dromedaries  of 
Midian,  and  that  all  the  nations  shall  render  obeisance 
to  our  Lord.  Thus  believing,  we  shall  lend  a  hand, 
and  our  lives  will  tell  to  the  glory  of  God. 


STEADFASTNESS. 


THE   FIXED    HEART. 


"My  heart  is  fixed,  0  God;  my  heart  is  fixed."  Psalm  57:  7;  108:  1; 
112:7. 

How  does  it  happen  that  these  same  words  occur 
thrice  in  different  portions  of  the  Book  of  Psalms  ?  This 
repetition  is  regarded  in  some  quarters  as  indicating  a 
haphazard  arrangement,  and  so  mihtating  against  the 
accepted  theory  of  inspiration.  But  a  brief  examination 
of  the  matter  will  show  that  the  very  opposite  is  true. 

The  Psalter  was  the  Hymn  Book  of  ancient  Israel, 
and  was  used  on  various  occasions  just  as  hymn  books 
are  used  in  these  days.  The  title  by  which  it  was 
usually  known  was  Tehillim,  or  "Praises."  It  is 
divided  into  five  Parts,  which  were  put  together  at  dif- 
ferent times.  Part  One  consists  of  forty-one  Psalms, 
chiefly  David's,  collected  shortly  after  his  death.  Part 
Two,  of  thirty-one  Psalms,  was  compiled  a  little  later 
by  the  Levites,  in  charge  of  the  musical  service  of  the 
Temple.  It  concludes  with  the  words,  "The  prayers 
of  David,  the  son  of  Jesse,  are  ended."  Part  Three, 
seventeen  Psalms,  was  edited  by  Asaph,  the  choir 
leader,  under  an  order  of  King  Hezekiah  referred  to 
in  II.  Chron.  29 :  30.    Parts  Four  and  Five  were  added 

(244) 


STEADFASTNESS.  245 

by  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  in  the  time  of  the  Restoration. 
It  will  be  seen  that  in  a  book  thus  collated,  for  divers 
times  and  occasions,  it  was  by  no  means  extraordinary, 
but  quite  natural,  that  certain  portions  should  occur 
more  than  once.  How  natural  this  is  will  be  made 
obvious  by  reference  to  the  Psalters  and  Hymnaries 
used  in  these  days. 

We  shall  find  a  definite  reason  for  the  repetition  of 
these  particular  words  in  the  different  purposes  which 
the  Psalms  containing  them  were  intended  to  serve. 
The  Fifty-seventh,  where  we  first  find  them,  was  un- 
doubtedly written  by  David,  probably  in  the  Cave  of 
Adullam,  and  intended  for  the  temple  service.  It  begins 
with  a  complaint;  "Be  merciful  unto  me,  O  God;  I 
will  make  my  refuge  in  the  shadow  of  Thy  wings!" 
and  it  concludes  with  a  protestation  of  earnest  trust,  as 
if  the  Psalmist  had  come  to  the  doorway  of  the  cave 
and  were  gazing  upward,  "  I  will  sing  unto  Thee,  O 
Lord ;  for  Thy  truth  is  great  unto  the  clouds ! "  This  has 
been  a  favorite  song  in  the  public  worship  of  the  Jews, 
even  to  this  day;  like  the  Christian  hymn  so  closely 
alUed  to  it  in  sentiment, 

Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul. 
Let  me  to  Thy  bosom  fly! 

All  my  trust  on  Thee  is  stayed. 
All  my  help  from  Thee  I  bring; 

Cover  my  defenceless  head 
With  the  shadow  of  Thy  wing. 


246  THE    EVOLUTION    OF   A   CHRISTIAN. 

The  One-hundred-and-eighth,  in  which  the  words 
occur  again,  was  a  compilation  made  by  uniting  por- 
tions of  the  Fifty -seventh  and  Sixtieth,  and  was  clearly 
intended  for  use  in  troublous  times.  It  has  been  called 
the  Soldier's  Morning  Hymn.  It  was  used  in  the  time 
of  the  EngUsh  Revolution  by  the  Parliamentary  Army, 
when  once  and  again  the  hoarse  voices  of  the  Round- 
heads commended  their  cause  to  heaven  in  the  words, 
"My  heart  is  fixed,  O  God;  my  heart  is  fixed!"  and 
emphasized  them  with  their  historic  battle-cry,  "God 
with  us!" 

The  One-hundred-and-twelfth,  in  which  the  expres- 
sion occurs  for  the  third  time,  is  an  acrostic,  intended 
to  be  committed  to  memory  by  children  in  the  rabbini- 
cal schools  and  used  particularly  at  the  paschal  feast. 

It  is  made  very  clear  by  this  repetition  that  the  truth 
thus  accentuated  is  a  most  important  one.  The  word 
nachon,  rendered  "fixed,"  hterally  means  prepared;  it 
is  used  elsewhere  to  designate  a  wise  preparation  for 
life,  duty,  battle,  trial  or  death.  We  read  of  Reho- 
boam,  the  grandson  of  David,  that  he  "  did  evil,  because 
he  prepared  not  his  heart  to  seek  the  Lord"  (2  Chron. 
12:  14);  that  is,  his  reign  was  a  failure  because  he 
lacked  that  fixity  of  heart  which  had  given  the  keynote 
to  his  royal  grandfather's  long  and  successful  adminis- 
tration of  affairs.  So  then  if  we  take  these  words  apart, 
we  shall  expect  to  find  the  secret  of  a  successful  Hfe. 

How,  then,  is  the  heart  to  be  fixed  ? 

I.    It  must  be  grounded  deeply  in  Truth. 


STEADFASTNESS.  247 

We  are  reminded  again  and  again  that  we  are  living 
in  an  age  of  unrest.  The  foundations  of  the  deep  are 
broken  up  and  men's  hearts  are  faihng  them  for  fear. 
The  attitude  of  many  toward  the  great  verities  is  one 
of  doubt,  wonder  and  questioning.  It  is  by  no  means 
certain  that  this  is  pecuUar  to  our  time.  The  spirit  of 
unbeHef  has  always  stood  gazing  into  the  face  of 
revelation  asking,  with  lifted  eyebrows,  "What  is 
truth  ?  "  But  now,  as  ever,  it  is  of  immense  importance 
that  earnest  people  should  plant  their  feet  on  terra 
firma  and  be  able  to  speak  without  a  rising  inflection  as 
to  the  rudimental  facts  of  the  spiritual  and  eternal  life. 

These  facts,  when  reduced  to  the  minimum,  are  three; 
and  these  three  are  so  woven  into  the  very  warp  and 
woof  of  our  religion  that  all  who  profess  to  be  Christians 
should  be  able  to  say,  "  These  things  I  know !  *' 

The  first  of  these  is  the  personal  God. 

He  who  is  not  firmly  persuaded  in  his  own  mind 
as  to  whether  God  is  Law,  Insensate  Force,  an  All- 
pervading  Soul,  a  Something  not  Ourselves  that  Mak- 
eth  for  Righteousness,  or  a  loving  Father  with  eyes  to 
see,  a  heart  to  pity  and  power  to  help  His  children  in 
the  stress  of  temptation  and  conflict,  is  likely  to  follow 
in  the  steps  of  Rehoboam  and  make  a  failure  of  his  life. 
He  who  Cometh  to  God  "must  believe  that  He  is,  and 
that  He  is  the  rewarder  of  all  them  that  diligently  seek 
Him." 

The  second  of  the  essential  truths  is  Christy  the  ordy- 
begotten  Son  of  God. 


248  THE    EVOLUTION   OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

It  is  not  enough  for  a  Christian  to  hold  with  Jean 
Paul  that  "He  was  mightiest  among  the  mighties." 
Not  a  few  of  those  who  profess  the  Gospel  in  our  time 
are  insistent  on  their  loyalty  to  Christ,  while  practically 
denying  the  three  great  miracles  which  attest  His  claims; 
to  wit,  His  Incarnation,  His  Atonement  and  His  Resur- 
rection from  the  dead.  There  must  be  no  uncertainty 
at  this  point.  There  is  no  middle  ground.  Christ  was 
an  impostor  or  He  was  what  He  claimed  to  be.  He  has 
no  peers.  He  is  not  'primus  inter  pares.  He  is  not  one 
of  many  "sons  of  God,"  but  stands  alone  and  solitary 
as  God's  "  only -begotten  Son." 

In  the  Memoirs  of  Charles  Lamb  it  is  related  that 
a  company  of  gentlemen  sat  together  discussing  the 
personahty  of  Christ,  when  one  remarked,  "If  Solon, 
Caesar,  Lycurgus  or  Jesus  were  to  enter  here,  we  should 
all  rise  to  salute  him."  ^Vhereupon  Lamb  said,  "Yes, 
gentlemen;  if  Solon,  Caesar  or  Lycurgus  entered  we 
should  all  stand  up;  but  if  Christ  came  in  we  should 
all  fall  upon  our  knees."  This  is  the  difference  of  view 
which  must  be  recognized  as  marking  the  contrast 
between  those  who  accept  Jesus  and  those  who  reject 
Him.  We,  who  are  Christians  do  homage  to  many,  but 
to  Jesus  we  say,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God ! " 

The  third  of  the  vital  facts  of  our  religion  is  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Here  again  there  is  a  very  considerable  diversity  of 
view;  but  there  can  be  none  among  the  people  of  God. 
To  them  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  a  mere  influence  that  can 


STEADFASTNESS.  249 

be  characterized  by  a  neuter  pronoun,  but  the  veritable 
Third  Person  of  the  Godhead;  who  is  the  Author  and 
Source  of  life  in  Regeneration,  its  Sustainer  and  Pro- 
motor  in  Sanctification,  and  the  Director  and  Executive 
in  the  administration  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  We 
receive  from  Him  our  enduement  of  power  for  service 
and,  therefore,  are  constantly  dependent  upon  Him. 
As  an  electric  car  stops  at  the  moment  when  its  fuse 
burns  out  or  the  current  is  arrested,  so  the  life  of  a 
Christian  comes  to  a  standstill  when  he  slights  or 
ignores  his  vital  dependence  on  the  Spirit  of  God. 

The  truths  thus  outlined  form  the  minimum,  and 
at  the  same  time,  in  their  full  significance,  a  complete 
compendium  of  Christian  faith ;  on  which  we  must  take 
our  stand  without  an  "if"  or  "perhaps."  And  this  is 
not  easy  when  the  atmosphere  about  us  is  full  of  un- 
belief. Our  position  is  as  that  of  George  Wilson  of 
Edinburgh,  who,  when  told  that  the  world  was  against 
him,  replied,  *'  What  matter  that  ?  A  man  must  stand 
on  his  own  feet  when  he  answers  to  God. " 

If  he  believes  it,  let  him  stand  and  say, —  . 

Although  in  scorn  a  thousand  lips  are  curled, — 
"Though  no  one  else  believe,  I  hold  my  faith 
Like  Athanasius  against  the  world!" 

II.  So  much  for  the  foundation  of  truth;  now  as  to 
Moral  Principle. 

It  is  not  enough  for  the  heart  to  be  fixed  in  sound 
belief;  it  must  be  fixed,  also,  in  right  Rules  of  Conduct; 


250  THE    EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

and  this  follows  as  a  matter  of  course,  since  "As  a  man 
thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he." 

To  say  that  ours  is  an  age  of  loose  livinjr  is  only  to 
add  the  logical  corollary  to  the  statement,  We  are 
living  in  an  age  of  intellectual  unrest.  Creed  and  con- 
duct go  together.  The  same  conditions  which  militate 
against  a  loyal  adherence  to  the  rudimental  facts  of  the 
Gospel,  are  operative  against  the  moral  sanction  of 
personal  and  social  life.  If  a  tree  be  rightly  rooted  and 
grounded,  it  wall  fulfill  the  law  of  its  being  in  appropriate 
foliage  and  fruit;  otherwise  not.  The  prevalence  of 
Herbert  Spencer's  philosophy,  as  set  forth  in  his  Data 
of  Ethics,  in  w^hich  he  supplants  the  thought  of  a 
personal  God  by  that  of  Evolution  and  a  consequent 
"adjustment  to  ends,"  is  responsible  not  only  for  much 
of  the  loose  thinking,  but  also,  in  large  measure,  for 
the  loose  living  of  our  time.  It  is  as  impossible  to  have 
morality  without  a  soul,  as  it  is  to  have  religion  without 
a  God. 

In  the  prevalent  aversion  to  Puritan  modes  of  living 
the  pendulum  has  been  permitted  to  swing  quite  too 
far  the  other  way.  In  the  Church  it  is  notorious  that 
ministerial  vows  are  interpreted  by  a  process  of  verbal 
jugglery  which  amounts  to  a  practical  denial  of  both 
the  dictionary  and  the  Word  of  God.  And  the  standard 
of  morality  in  the  rank  and  file  of  church-membership 
has  been  greatly  affected  by  a  lamentable  obliteration 
of  the  lines  dividing  between  worldliness  and  Christian 
consecration.     What  is  to  be  done.^     We  cannot  pre- 


STEADFASTNESS.  251 

scribe  for  those  who  reject  or  disavow  the  Gospel ;  but 
to  Christians  we  are  bound  to  say,  Be  not  "taken  up 
in  the  Hps  of  talkers";  and  "follow  not  a  multitude  to 
do  evil."  Truth  and  righteousness  must  meet  to- 
gether and  kiss  each  other  in  our  walk  and  conversa- 
tion. We  are  under  bonds  to  know  what  we  believe 
and  to  ground  our  principles  upon  it. 

And  here  again  there  are  some  rudimental  facts, 
briefly  three,  which  are  treated  lightly  in  some  quarters ; 
but  which  cannot  be  set  aside  or  slighted  in  any  degree 
without  jeopardizing  our  Christian  life  and  character. 

The  first  of  these  is  Law. 

And  by  this  we  mean  not  simply  "the  law  of  our 
being,"  as  we  speak  of  the  law  of  a  crystal  or  of  a  tree; 
but  Law  with  a  Law-giver  behind  it;  the  Law  that 
went  forth  from  Mount  Sinai,  with  the  sound  of  a 
trumpet  waxing  louder  and  louder;  the  Law  that  finds 
its  supreme  expression  in  the  word,  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord!" 

The  second  of  the  great  moral  facts  to  be  received 
without  demur  or  hesitation  is  The  Authority  of  Con- 
science. 

By  this,  again,  we  mean  more  than  the  innate  moral 
sense  by  which  we  are  enabled  to  discern  "betwixt  the 
worse  and  better  reason."  We  mean  the  inner  response 
of  the  soul  of  a  man  to  the  voice  of  the  Father  who  made 
him  in  His  own  likeness  and  after  His  image.  God 
says,  "Thou  shalt!"  and  conscience  answers,  "I 
must'"     The  sanctity  of  this  Law  finds  its  highest 


252  THE    EVOLUTION    OF   A    CHRISTIAN. 

expression  in  the  behest  of  duty.  A  "conscience  void 
of  offense  "  recognizes  the  heinousness  of  sin  and  hates 
and  abhors  it,  because  God  hates  and  abhors  it.  A 
"quick  conscience"  answers,  "No,"  to  the  pointed 
finger,  to  the  alluring  smile,  to  the  itching  palm,  to  the 
brimming  cup ;  and,  "  Yes,"  to  the  nod  and  beck  of  God. 

The  third  of  the  supreme  moral  facts  is  Retribution. 

It  is  the  fashion  nowadays  to  look  exclusively  on 
the  milder  side  of  the  divine  nature  and  character; 
insomuch  that  men  wonder  whether,  when  God  said, 
"The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die,"  He  really  meant  it. 
But  here  as  elsewhere  He  must  be  taken  at  His  word. 
"Be  not  deceived;  God  is  not  mocked;  whatsoever  a 
man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap."  There  is  a  tre- 
mendous truth  in  the  word  "hell";  which,  indeed, 
must  be  uttered  with  bated  breath,  yet  never  with 
mouthing  or  mumbling.  The  trumpet  that  sounded 
from  Sinai  is  sounding  still  and  will  sound  its  loudest  on 
the  Great  Day  when  all  shall  be  summoned  to  the  bar 
of  judgment  and  when  the  line  shall  be  forever  drawn 
between  those  who  depart  into  outer  darkness  and 
those  who  enter  into  eternal  life. 

Now,  these  underlying  facts  of  "common  morality," 
as  it  is  called,  must  be  maintained  as  vigorously  as  the 
great  fundamental  truths  of  the  Gospel.  With  respect 
to  these  the  Christian  must  be  able  to  say,  "  O  God,  my 
heart  is  fixed!"  To  Him  it  matters  not  how  popular 
opinion  may  seem  to  be  against  Him;  he  must  not 
swerve  from  his  conviction,  but  brace  himself  against 


STEADFASTNESS.  253 

the  divine  authority,  as  did  Fitz  James  against  the  face 
of  the  beethng  cHff  when  the  hosts  of  Roderick  Dhu 
appeared,  saying,"  Come  one,  come  all!  This  rock 
shall  fly  from  its  base  as  soon  as  I!" 

III.  Somuchfor  truth  and  principle;  now  as  to  Pur- 
pose. For  doctrinal  and  moral  convictions  are  vain 
unless  they  be  formulated  by  a  ruling  purpose  in  life. 

There  are  those  who  live  without  an  aim.  Their 
hearts  are  not  fixed.  They  ate  like  ships  without  chart 
or  compass ;  the  sport  of  the  wayward  winds. 

There  are  others  who  have  a  low  or  wrong  aim; 
they  concentrate  their  energies  on  the  pursuit  of  wealth 
or  pleasure  or  the  attainment  of  worldly  emolument. 
And,  in  the  long  run,  it  matters  Httle  whether  they  fail 
or  succeed;  for,  when  their  lives  are  ended,  they  leave 
all  behind  them  and  return  "to  the  vile  dust  from 
whence  they  sprung,  unwept,  unhonored  and  unsung." 

But  there  are  others  still  who  seek  the  highest  and 
best.  Their  desire  is  to  contribute  to  the  welfare  of 
their  fellow  men  and  the  glory  of  God.  "  He  aims  too 
low  who  aims  beneath  the  stars.'*  Let  the  world's  peo- 
ple seek  what  they  will,  it  must  be  ours  as  the  people 
of  Christ  to  pursue  the  path  which  has  been  divinely 
marked  out  for  us.  We  are  "sent,"  as  Christ  Himself 
was  sent,  to  do  our  Father's  business;  and  we  are 
solemnly  covenanted  to  devote  ourselves  to  it. 

But  it  requires  a  spirit  of  unceasing  resolution  to  live 
that  way.  The  will  must  be  kept  in  constant  touch  and 
sympathy  with  the  divine  will.    In  the  diary  of  Jonathan 


254  THE   EVOLUTION    OF    A    CHRISTIAN. 

Edwards  we  come  upon  this  entry,  under  date  of  a 
certain  June  6th:  "If  there  be  only  one  man  on  earth 
who  remains  true  to  his  convictions  and  faithful  in  the 
service  of  his  Master;  Resolved,  that  I,  ])y  the  grace  of 
God,  will  be  that  man."  And  in  one  of  Charles  Kings- 
ley's  letters  he  says,  "I  have  been  an  hour  on  the 
seashore  forming  resolutions  for  time  and  eternity;  let 
me  reduce  them  all  to  one;  I  do  now,  in  a  vow  be- 
yond recall,  give  myself  to  God."  Thus  speaks  the 
heart  that  is  fixed;  and  this,  I  say,  is  the  secret  of  a 
successful  life. 

But  how  shall  we  reach  it.^  When  the  very  air  is 
vibrant  with  compromise  and  tremulous  with  indeci- 
sion, how  shall  we  plant  our  feet  upon  the  rock  and  keep 
them  there?  Assuming  that  we  have  accepted  Christ 
as  our  Prophet,  Priest  and  King,  it  remains  to  keep  in 
constant  company  with  Him. 

The  phrase,  so  familiar  in  our  time,  "  Practising  the 
presence  of  God,"  was  current  among  the  mystics  long 
ago;  it  is  full  of  helpful  suggestions  for  Christians  who 
would  be  confidently  steadfast  in  all  the  emergencies  of 
life.  When  a  railway-train  goes  into  a  tunnel,  there  is 
not  a  little  child  aboard  who  does  not  draw  closer  to  its 
mother  and  grip  her  hand.  So  must  the  Christian, 
when  under  the  stress  of  trial  or  temptation,  come  closer 
to  God.  We  must  catch  the  meaning  of  our  Lord  when 
He  bade  us  " pray  without  ceasing."  The  morning  and 
the  evening  prayer  and  the  occasional  ejaculation  are 
not  enough.    A  paragraph  of  Scripture  at  the  opening 


STEADFASTNESS.  255 

of  the  day  is  not  enough.     We  must  abide  in  prayer 
and  in  the  Word.    Here  is  our  safeguard : 

For  when  in  life  we're  tempest  tossed, 

And  conscience  such  a  canker, 
A  correspondence  fixed  wV  heaven 

Is  sure  a  noble  anchor. 

And  all  the  rest  is  "looking  unto  Jesus." 
He  asks  us  to  enter  "  no  darker  doors  than  He  passed 
through  before."  It  will  be  remembered  that,  on  the 
night  before  His  crucifixion,  He  and  His  disciples 
"sang  an  hymn  and  went  out."  The  hymn  which  He 
sang  with  them  was,  in  all  likelihood,  the  Paschal  Psalm 
in  which  these  words  occur:  "O  God,  my  heart  is 
fixed!"  And,  descending  the  outer  stairway  from  that 
upper  room,  He  set  His  face  steadfastly  toward  the 
cross.  He  swerved  not  an  hair's  breadth  from  His  reso- 
lution to  pursue  His  redemptive  purpose  to  the  end. 
Mocked,  derided,  suspended  between  heaven  and  earth 
in  mortal  agony.  He  continued  on  His  appointed  path 
until  He  cried,  "  It  is  finished ! "  and  went  back  to  the 
glory  which  He  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was. 
He  is  our  Exemplar.  "If  any  man  will  come  after 
me,"  He  said,  "let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his 
cross  and  follow  me."  With  faith  inflexible,  with  reso- 
lution steadfast,  with  heart  fixed  in  truth  and  principle 
and  high  purpose,  we  run  the  race  which  is  set  before 
us,  looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our 
faith,  who  for  the  joy  set  before  Him  endured  the  cross, 
despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the  right  hand 
of  the  throne  of  God. 


HOSANNA? 

SAINTS  TRIUMPHANT. 

"And  a  very  great  multitude  spread  their  garments  in  the  way;  others 
cut  down  branches  from  the  trees  and  strewed  them  in  the  way.  And  the 
multitudes  that  went  before,  and  that  followed,  cried,  saying,  Hosanna 
to  the  Son  of  Davidl  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  tne  name  of  the  Lotd; 
Hosanna  in  the  highest!"      Matthew  21:8-9. 

The  tenth  of  Nisan  was  usually  a  quiet  day  in  Jeru- 
salem. The  people  were  engaged  in  preparing  for  the 
celebration  of  the  Passover,  which  would  begin  in  four 
days.  The  temple  choirs  and  orchestras  were  rehears- 
ing the  music  for  the  Hallel  Psalms.  Householders 
were  putting  their  guest-chambers  in  order  for  ex- 
pected friends.  Farmers  were  driving  their  flocks  into 
enclosures  outside  the  gates,  where  those  intending  to 
sacrifice  might  purchase  them.  Pilgrims  were  throng- 
ing into  the  city  by  all  the  caravan  routes.  An  un- 
wonted stir  was  manifest  among  the  people,  owing  to 
a  rumor  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  likely  to  attend 
the  feast.  He  had  been  pronounced  a  disturber  of  the 
peace,  and  it  was  known  that  if  He  came  it  would  be  at 
peril  of  His  life.  He  was  now  at  the  village  of  Bethany 
and  might  arrive  at  any  moment.  A  company  set  forth 
to  meet  Him;  and  when  He  was  seen  approaching  by 
the  road  leading  over  the  Mount  of  Olives,  they  has- 
tened on,  tearing  branches  from  the  palm-trees  along 

(256) 


HOSANNA !  257 

the  way.  They  fell  in  with  the  caravan  and  swelled 
their  acclamations,  "Hosanna!  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of 
David!  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord!"  The  pilgrims  came  down  the  mountain  road, 
crossed  the  ford  of  the  Cedron  and  presently  entered 
the  Damascus  gate.  The  city  was  profoundly  moved; 
people  gazed  from  the  housetops  or  leaned  out  of  the 
lattices  as  the  strange  procession  passed  by.  The  cap- 
tain of  the  Roman  garrison,  at  the  Castle  of  Antonia, 
looked  on  with  apprehension,  knowing  well  the  attitude 
of  the  Jewish  leaders  toward  this  man.  The  rabbis 
of  the  Sanhedrin  discussed  the  matter  with  ominous 
bitterness,  saying  to  each  other,  ''Behold,  how  the 
world  has  gone  after  Him!" 

The  next  day,  Monday,  our  Lord  taught  in  the 
temple  and  wrought  miracles  in  vindication  of  His 
divine  authority.  He  then  returned  to  Bethany  to 
spend  the  night.  Already  the  enthusiasm  of  the  multi- 
tude had  oozed  away.  A  few  hosannas  were  uttered 
by  little  children;  and  these  He  was  asked  to  rebuke: 
but  He  said,  "  Have  ye  never  heard.  Out  of  the  mouth 
of  babes  and  sucklings  God  hath  ordained  praise?" 

Tuesday  was  ''the  day  of  temptations."  The 
scribes  and  Pharisees  beset  Him  with  test  questions 
such  as  the  tribute  money,  the  seven-fold  widow  and 
the  greatest  commandment,  hoping  to  entrap  Him.  He 
knew  their  purpose,  saw  through  their  malignant 
hypocrisy  and  reproved  them:  "Woe  unto  you,  scribes 
and   Pharisees,  generation   of   vipers!     How   shall  ye 


258  THE    EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHRISTIAN. 

escape  the  damnation  of  hell  ? "  That  evening  when 
He  returned  to  Bethany  there  were  no  hosannas  along 
the  way. 

Wednesday  was  dies  non.  Jesus  remained  in  re- 
tirement at  Bethany.  In  Jerusalem  the  ecclesiastical 
rulers  were  conspiring  against  Him. 

On  Thursday,  the  day  of  farewells,  He  returned  to 
the  city  and  met  His  disciples  in  the  upper  room,  where 
He  spoke  to  them  plainly  of  His  approaching  death  and 
bade  them  be  of  good  comfort :  "  Peace  I  leave  with 
you;  let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be 
afraid!"  The  meeting  closed  with  the  Great  Hallel: 
"O,  praise  the  Lord,  for  He  is  good;  for  His  mercy 
endureth  forever!"  iVfter  which  they  went  out  to  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  where  at  midnight  Jesus  was  arrested 
to  be  haled  before  the  Jewish  court. 

On  Friday  morning  at  nine  o'clock  He  was  led  to 
execution.  The  distance  from  the  Castle  of  Antonia 
to  Golgotha  was  almost  a  mile ;  it  was  a  mile  of  torture. 
The  prisoner,  weak  from  scourging,  staggered  under 
the  burden  of  His  cross.  He  wore  upon  His  breast  a 
i'duluni  on  which  w^as  inscribed,  "This  is  Jesus,  the 
King  of  the  Jews."  No  sound  escaped  His  hps;  the 
mob  that  followed  cried,  "  Crucify  Him !  Crucify  Him ! 
Away  with  Him!" 

Who  were  these  people,  so  frenzied  and  athirst  for 
blood?  The  same  who  four  days  ago  had  welcomed 
Jesus  as  the  Son  of  David.  And  is  there  none  to 
cry,  "Hosanna!"    now.^    Not  one!    The  surging  mob 


HOSANNA !  259 

is  Impatient  for  His  death.  Strange,  do  you  say? 
Nay,  there  is  nothing  strange  in  the  fluctuation  of 
popular  opinion.  The  world  is  full  of  fickle  folk. 
Four  days  are  quite  enough  for  an  ordinary  impression 
to  wear  off.  Did  not  Hosea  say  to  the  people,  "Your 
goodness  is  as  a  morning  cloud  and  as  the  early  dew 
it  goeth  away  "  .^  I  believe  that  all  who  come  under  the 
influence  of  the  gospel  are  at  one  time  or  another, 
sooner  or  later,  moved  to  accept  it;  but,  alas,  how  often 
the  mood  ends  with  a  "  Go  thy  way  for  this  time."  The 
meeting  is  dismissed  with  the  benediction;  and  the 
world  waits  at  the  door.  "Hosannas  languish  on  our 
tongues,  and  our  devotion  dies."  How  shall  we  account 
for  this  .P    Or  is  there  any  lesson  to  be  learned  from  it  ? 

I.  Feeling  is  not  enough  in  matters  pertaining  to 
the  spiritual  life. 

The  feelings  must,  indeed,  be  enlisted.  God  knows, 
we  are  all  too  dull  and  cold.  The  vision  of  Calvary  is 
enough  to  break  an  angel's  heart;  and,  lo,  we  stand  be- 
holding.    "  Is  it  nothing  to  you,  all  ye  that  pass  by .? " 

But  if  feeling  be  all,  it  will  pass  like  foam  from  the 
water  when  the  wind  dies.  Sentimental  considerations 
are,  of  themselves,  of  only  temporary  value.  I  warn 
you  against  the  tearful  enthusiasm  which  is  aroused  by 
impressive  observances.  The  people  who  are  going 
about  our  streets  on  Palm  Sunday  with  green  branches 
in  their  hands  are  not  all  disciples  of  Christ. 
By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.  It  is  not  so  im- 
portant that  we  should  cry  "Long  live  the  king!"  as 


260  THE   EVOLUTION  OF   A  CHRISTIAN. 

that  we  should  faithfully  serve  him.  We  shall  pres- 
ently be  observing  the  solemnities  of  Good  Friday;  and 
multitudes  of  people  will  be  moved  to  tears  by  the 
story  of  the  Passion,  in  sermon  and  song,  who  have 
no  real  purpose  of  accepting  the  benefits  of  that  passion 
or  of  surrendering  themselves  to  Christ.  Feeling  is  not 
conviction.     The  hymn 

In  the  cross  of  Christ  I  glory, 
Tow 'ring  o'er  the  wrecks  of  time; 
All  the  light  of  sacred  story 
Gathers  round  its  head  sublime. 

was  written  by  Sir  John  Bowring,  who  regarded  Christ 
as  a  mere  man.  And  then  we  shall  come  to  Easter 
Sunday;  and  thousands  who  never  attend  church  at 
other  times,  will  be  momentarily  moved  by  the  music 
and  argument  of  the  resurrection,  only  to  turn  again 
to  the  world  and  forget  all  about  Christ  and  the  life 
and  immortaHty  which  are  brought  to  light  in  His 
gospel. 

In  the  time  of  Isaiah  the  Jewish  people  reached 
the  very  lowest  ebb  of  spiritual  declension:  yet  that 
was  the  golden  age  of  liturgical  splendor.  Never 
had  there  been  such  hecatombs  laid  upon  the  altar; 
never  such  devotion  to  religious  pomp  and  circum- 
stance. And  the  Lord  said,  "Hear  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  ye  rulers  of  Sodom  and  ye  people  of  Gomor- 
rah: to  what  purpose  is  the  multitude  of  your  sacri- 
fices unto  me?  I  am  full  of  the  burnt  offerings  of 
rams,  and  the  fat  of  fed  beasts.    Bring  no  more  vain 


hosanna!  261 

oblations :  incense  is  an  abomination  unto  me ;  the  new 
moons  and  Sabbaths,  the  calling  of  assemblies,  I  can- 
not away  with.  Your  new  moons  and  your  appointed 
feasts  my  soul  hateth;  they  are  a  trouble  unto  me;  I 
am  weary  to  bear  them.  Your  hands  are  full  of  blood! 
Wash  you,  make  you  clean ;  put  away  the  evil  of,  your 
doing  from  before  mine  eyes ;  cease  to  do  evil ;  learn  to 
do  well." 

II.  It  is  evident,  then,  that  Feeling  must  be  sup- 
plemented by  Intellectual  Conviction. 

Nor  is  that  enough.  We  must,  indeed,  as  Peter 
says,  be  ready  always  to  give  to  every  one  that  asketh 
a  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  us  (I  Pet.  3:15).  And 
to  this  end  we  must  think  for  ourselves,  study  our 
Bible  and  confer  with  God.  We  must  fortify  our  feel- 
ings by  mental  processes  which  are  like  the  digging  of 
entrenchments.  You  say,  "I  believe  in  a  personal 
God."  Why?  "I  believe  in  the  atonement."  Why? 
"I  believe  the  Bible  is  true."  Can  you  defend  that 
proposition  when  the  next  hostile  critic  assails  it  ?  "  I  be- 
lieve in  immortality."  Are  you  ready  with  your  apologia  ? 

But  suppose  you  are;  it  does  not  follow  that  you 
are  a  true  Christian.  Orthodoxy,  however  important, 
is  not  religion.  An  attache  of  the  German  Embassy 
was  asked,  "Is  Bismarck  a  Christian?"  He  replied, 
"  What  would  you  have  him  be  ?  A  Turk  ? "  It  is  not 
enough  to  be  in  the  Establishment  or  to  be  able  to 
give  a  reason  for  being  there.  Religion  must  go  deeper. 
Many  splendid  theologians  have  been  ungodly  men. 


262  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHRISTIAN. 

If  orthodoxy  were  sufficient  to  save,  then  the  Phar- 
isees would  have  been  pronounced  the  best  people  in 
Israel;  for  they  were  the  representatives  of  the  strictest 
orthodoxy  of  their  day,  loyal  to  every  one  of  the  great 
doctrines  and  able  to  defend  them.  They  were  the 
religious  leaders  of  their  time.  Yet  Jesus  said  to  the 
people,  "Except  your  righteousness  shall  exceed  that 
of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter 
the  kingdom  of  God."  Observe,  He  did  not  cast  any 
reproach  upon  their  orthodoxy;  nor  could  He,  since  an 
intellectual  conviction  is  necessary  to  faith.  He  said 
that  a  true  believer  must  go  as  far  as  the  Pharisees  did, 
and  beyond  it.  His  righteousness  must  "  exceed  "  theirs 
if  he  would  enter  the  kingdom  of  God. 

III.  So  then  neither  Feeling  nor  Intellectual  Con- 
viction can  furnish  us  with  a  satisfactory  faith;  Con- 
science must  be  reckoned  wdth. 

It  is  well  to  emphasize  this;  because  we  are  living 
in  a  time  of  moral  looseness.  In  many  quarters  it 
seems  to  be  assumed  that  Church-membership  is  a  suffi- 
cient voucher  for  eternal  life.  Square  yourself  with 
the  liturgy;  and  then  go  as  you  please.  It  is  of  little 
consequence  what  you  think  about  the  Sabbath  and  the 
rest  of  the  Moral  Law.  But  this  is  not  the  teaching  of 
Christ.  If  we  are  to  follow  Him  we  must  make  room 
in  our  philosophy  for  the  ethical  imperative.  The  word 
Ought  must  find  its  way  into  our  life  and  dominate  it. 

But  conscience  is  not  enough.  If  it  were,  then  Saul 
the  inquisitor  had  no  need  of  conversion,  since  he  was 


HOSANNA !  263 

following  his  conscience,  deeming  himself  to  be  doing 
God's  service,  in  haling  Christians  to  judgment  and 
death.  If  sincerity  were  enough,  then  Gregory  VII, 
that  monster  of  tyranny  and  oppression,  whose  name, 
"  Hildebrand, "  is  a  hissing  and  a  byword,  because  he 
climbed  to  his  papal  throne  on  the  ruins  of  civil  and 
domestic  life,  is  worthy  to  be  in  the  saints'  calendar, 
since  he  died  saying,  "  I  have  loved  righteousness  and 
hated  iniquity."  There  is  not  an  age-buttressed  form 
of  error  or  superstition  which  has  not  had  its  devotees 
ready  to  attest  their  sincerity  by  deeds  of  self-sacrifice 
even  unto  martyrdom.  We  say  that  a  man  is  bound 
to  follow  his  conscience;  but  suppose  his  conscience 
is  "seared  as  with  an  hot  iron,"  or  turned  aside  as  the 
mariner's  needle  is  at  times  deflected  from  its  normal 
course.'^  "There  is  a  way  which  seemeth  right  unto  a 
man,  but  the  ends  thereof  are  the  ways  of  death" 
(Prov.  14:12).  We  are  bound  to  do  right;  and  if  our 
consciences  are  wrong,  we  are  bound  to  rectify  them 
by  putting  them  under  the  control  of  God.  So  Jesus 
taught:  "Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me.  Lord, 
Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  but  he 
that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 
Many  will  say  to  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  have 
we  not  prophesied  in  Thy  name  ?  And  in  Thy  name 
have  cast  out  devils  ?  And  in  Thy  name  done  many 
wonderful  works?  And  then  will  I  profess  unto 
them,  I  never  knew  you."  (Matt.  7:  5il-23).  It  thus 
appears  that  what  are  called  "conscientious  convic- 


264  THE  EVOLUTION   OF   A  CHRISTIAN. 

tions"  may  have  no  real  or  permanent  value.  Punc- 
tiliousness is  not  piety.  A  scrupulous  life  may  be  an 
unholy  one. 

IV.  To  Feeling  and  Intellectual  Conviction  and 
Conscientious  Sincerity  must  be  added  Resolution. 

The  will  must  perform  its  part.  The  girdle  must 
be  drawn  tight  about  the  loins.  For  want  of  this  many 
fail.  They  reach  the  line  and  stay  there,  though  a 
single  step  would  cross  it.  They  set  the  charge  of 
dynamite  beneath  the  Hell-gate  of  their  sins  and  never 
light  the  fuse.  There  must  be  volition,  determination, 
purpose.  Yet  this  is  not  enough.  It  is  a  true  saying, 
"Hell  is  paved  with  good  intentions."  Did  not  Peter 
the  denier  say,  "  Though  all  forsake  Thee,  yet  will  not  I 
forsake  Thee"? 

In  the  ranks  of  those  who  opposed  our  forefathers 
in  the  struggle  for  poUtical  independence  there  were 
no  braver  soldiers  than  the  Hessians,  who,  nevertheless, 
were  mere  mercenaries.  They  had  no  heart  in  the  con- 
flict: they  had  not  troubled  themselves  to  reason  the 
matter  out,  either  way;  nor  did  they  care  particularly 
for  the  right  or  wrong  of  it.  Pounds,  shillings  and 
pence  led  them  to  a  resolution  to  fight ;  and  they  fought 
well.    That  was  all. 

V.  Well,  then,  if  neither  Feeling,  Intellect,  Con- 
science nor  Will,  nor  all  together,  can  insure  the  per- 
manent value  of  moral  impressions,  what  can?  Sav- 
ing Faith,  which  is  a  reaching  out  of  the  whole  man  to 
grasp  the  salvation  of  Christ  and  appropriate  it. 


HOSANNA !  265 

A  Christian  is  a  man  of  quadrilateral  conviction. 
Take  the  case  of  the  prodigal  in  the  far  country:  he 
felt  deeply  enough  his  degradation;  since  the  pangs  of 
hunger  were  moving  him.  Nor  was  intellectual  con- 
viction lacking ;  he  knew  that  he  had  made  a  desperate 
fool  of  himself;  he  fully  appreciated  the  fact  that  in  his 
father's  house  there  was  bread  enough  and  to  spare, 
while  he  was  perishing  of  hunger.  And  his  conscience, 
also,  was  at  work ;  "  How  wrong  it  was  for  me  to  take 
my  portion  of  the  inheritance  and  squander  it  in  riotous 
living!  I  have  sinned,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be 
called  my  father's  son."  His  will,  too,  was  enHsted; 
"I  will  arise, "  he  said,  "  and  go"!  And  still  he  sat  on 
the  swine-trough,  hungry  and  in  rags.  What  lacked 
he  yet  .^  To  act !  To  act  upon  his  convictions.  See  him 
on  his  way  back  to  his  father's  house:  now  indeed  has 
he  "come  to  himself":  and  it  is  a  foregone  conclusion 
that  his  father  will  come  out  while  he  is  yet  a  great  way 
off,  and  fall  upon  his  neck,  and  kiss  him. 

All  the  feeling,  sound  reason,  sincerity  and  resolu- 
tion in  the  world  will  not  save  us  unless  heart,  intellect, 
conscience  and  will  shall  all  together  go  forth  to  meet 
God.  A  one-sided  man,  a  two-sided  man,  a  three-sided 
man,  or  even  a  four-sided  man  will  fail  unless  he  be  a 
four-sided  man  in  action.  We  must  be  following 
Christ.  We  must  be  walking  with  God.  "  If  any  man 
will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  take  up  his 
cross  and  follow  me." 


■^ 


Date  Due 

h.       .-.    .-     :,.-; 

MCULT^ 

JA  ^f-'se 

sa^^A^ 

r 

i 

1 

